Colombia negociaciones No es acto de caridad 12

Workers and oppressed peoples of the world unite!

Global slowdown brings mass layo s

Neither Obama, Romney can x capitalism
By Fred Goldstein Big business economists breathed a public sigh of relief at the announcement that the U.S. economy grew by an annual rate of 2.0 percent in the quarter ending Sept. 30. They were thanking their lucky stars that it was an increase over the 1.3 percent growth in the second quarter. But workers should be alert to the lesspublicized reservations behind this public show of optimism. First, the 2.0 percent growth was completely inflated by Pentagon spending. What saved this figure from being much, much worse, was a somewhat freakish surge in government spending, driven by a 13 percent gain in national defense spending, revealed Rob Carnell, the chief international economist at ING Bank. (Financial Times, Oct. 26) Thus the Obama administration and Leon Panetta at the Pentagon made sure a surge in military spending came in time to rescue the economic growth figures in the pre-election period. Without this military spending, the official growth number would have been 1.4 percent, essentially the same as in the second quarter. That would have been a statistical alarm bell warning that the economy was on the way to tanking. Other danger signs for workers In the wake of the global capitalist slowdown, U.S. exports last quarter declined for the first time in three and a half years. Capital investment by the bosses went from a 3.6 percent increase in the second quarter to a 1.3 percent decrease last quarter. When the bosses cut back investment, workers are bound to lose their jobs. Also, any rise in spending among the workers and the middle class is being fueled by the beginning of a new credit bubble. An article in the Oct. 27 New York Times entitled Rise in Household Debt Might Be a Sign of a Strengthening Recovery cheerily announced that U.S. households are taking on more debt than they are shedding. Debt from mortgages, credit cards and auto loans had been falling for 14 consecutive quarters as the masses tried to get out from under the mountain of debt accumulated during the bubble. The bubble burst, leading to the great financial crisis. Now the bankers are celebrating that people are going back into debt, bringing more income from interest and fees to the bankers and keeping the economy from collapsing. In other words, the bankers are looking forward to profiting from the next credit bubble. The bosses, economists and politicians are hoping it will keep capitalism going. The real news: mass layo s planned What really should have made the headlines were the decline in worldwide sales by the giant monopolies, the announcements of mass layoffs and the expectation of future layoffs. As the crisis of overproduction begins to choke the capitalist markets in China, India, Brazil, Russia and especially Europe, the sales and profits of the giant transnational monopolies have begun to contract. As one bourgeois analyst put it, lower sales are a sure prescription for layoffs to start heating up as companies take immediate action to show their shareholders how responsive they are. (Business Insider, Oct. 25) Another said that North American Continued on page 7

workers.org

Nov. 8, 2012

Vol. 54, No. 44

$1

WO R K E RS WO RLD ED ITO RIA L

Will superstorm break the silence? A

fter ravaging much of the Caribbean, Hurricane Sandy has hit the United States. As of this writing, more than 8 million people here are without power, 38 are reported dead and still counting, and the damage is reckoned at many tens of billions of dollars. No numbers have been put on personal losses of the masses of people in terms of their homes, cars, household possessions, let alone irreplaceable personal items of precious, sentimental value. Continued on page 10

Means workers struggle

TEAM SOLIDARITY
4

invades the world Media aggression vs. CHINA

MONSANTO

Protest hits media, election silence on climate change, Times Square, Oct. 29.

NO JUSTICE,

NO PEACE!

New York City meeting hears families of those gunned down by cops. See article on page 3
WW PHOTO: BRENDA RYAN

LIBYA WAR CRIMES

11

ISRAEL BOMBS SUDAN

11

EUROSTRIKES 9

Page 2

Nov. 8, 2012

workers.org

We are the future! The future is socialism!

A call from youth to attend the Workers World Party Conference, Nov 17-18
The following statement was issued by the national youth fraction of Workers World Party.

WORKERS WORLD

this week ...

In the U.S.
Global slowdown brings mass layo s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 We are the future! The future is socialism! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Family members, activists assail police brutality . . . . . . . . . .3 Team solidarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Oaklands port workers organize mutual support . . . . . . . .4 Monsanto: A monopoly of proprietary seeds. . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Historic victory for immigrant workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Holy Land 5 appeal rejected by Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . .7 Mumia Abu-Jamal on The politics of style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Youth must lead the ght for our future!

Young people around the world are leading the global fightback against capitalist crises. One tremendous example has been the youth and students in Quebec, who continue to lead a militant struggle to defend their right to an education and a future. Through this mass struggle, they have won back their rights to education and continue to challenge austerity and capitalism. Young people in Egypt, Tunisia, Greece, Spain, Chile, Puerto Rico, Haiti and beyond have continued to be on the front lines of an inspiring struggle which every day broadens into a global movement against capitalism and the dictatorship of the 1%. Unity and solidarity continue to be our best weapons to counter the capitalist attacks and to build a world of respect, dignity and peoples power, which is socialism.

nger at capitalisms war against young people

is growing daily. Across the world, millions of young people have taken to the streets fighting back against austerity, injustice and endless war. Young people are responding to the systemic crisis of capitalism. Plagued with overproduction, speculation and exploitation, capitalism has far outlived any usefulness. The capitalist systems history and future is one of injustice, atrocities, racism and war. What is the way forward? How do we build a multinational, working-class, revolutionary movement? These are the questions that we will be answering at the Workers World Party National Conference in New York City on Nov. 17-18. We believe that now is the time to build a movement capable of ending the capitalists racist, sexist, exploitative and anti-LGBTQ system of private property. Its time for youth to lead the charge for socialism.

Around the world

New York Times aims blow at China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Greece wracked by health-care crisis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 European workers prepare for day of action. . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 150,000 in Rome protest austerity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Ford shuts Belgium plant, workers party protests . . . . . . . .9 Clintons preside over inauguration of Haiti misery . . . . . 10 U.S. backs Bani Walids destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Sudanese in Khartoum protest Israeli bombing raid . . . . 11

We need an organization that ghts for our future; the future is socialism!
To build unity and solidarity, we need to be coordinated in our fightback for the right to jobs, education and our needs. Only through building an organization which has a vision for the future, a vision based on real peoples power, combined with a scientific view of history and led by militant activists who focus on building the struggle, will we be able to accomplish the historic feat of overthrowing capitalism. The young people in Workers World Party are building this organization. We invite you to learn more about our Party and about how we are leading struggles across the country against the attacks on young people, the working class, and oppressed people here and abroad.

Editorial
Will superstorm break the silence? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Noticias En Espaol
Colombia negociaciones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 No es acto de caridad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Youth are under attack by capitalism, racism, police and more!

Under capitalism, youth have no future beyond wage slavery, poverty, a more than $1 trillion student debt and incarceration. The current youth employment situation, which has been drastically worsened by the capitalist economic crisis, shows that the capitalists have only low-wage jobs, unemployment and prisons for our generation. The attacks against youth are growing more vicious by the day. We are outraged by cases such as that of the transgender woman, Cece McDonald, who faced 42 years in prison for defending herself from a racist, anti-trans attack. We demand justice for Trayvon Martin, who was lynched by the vigilante racist, George Zimmerman. We stand with the thousands of undocumented youth unjustly denied their human rights and deported from their families. We demand freedom for our anti-racist, anti-fascist comrades of the Tinley Park 5 from Indiana, who still sit in prison for confronting a right-wing hate group conference. There are countless more young people victimized by this system. Yet capitalisms days are numbered.

Join us at the Workers World Party National Conference, Nov. 17-18 in NYC!
Our Party conference is a tremendous way to learn about Workers World Party, our work and our socialist vision for the future! We invite you to take part in discussions about how we can broaden and deepen our work, while learning from other activists involved in community, labor, anti-war and anti-austerity struggles. You will learn about how you can join an organization that stands up in defense of youth around the world who are resisting capitalism, imperialism, racism, sexism and anti-LGBTQ bigotry.

Workers World 55 West 17 Street New York, N.Y. 10011 Phone: 212.627.2994 E-mail: ww@workers.org Web: www.workers.org Vol. 54, No. 44 Nov. 8, 2012 Closing date: Oct. 30, 2012 Editor: Deirdre Griswold Technical Editor: Lal Roohk Managing Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell, Leslie Feinberg, Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead, Gary Wilson West Coast Editor: John Parker Contributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe, Greg Butterfield, Jaimeson Champion, G. Dunkel, Fred Goldstein, Teresa Gutierrez, Larry Hales, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Cheryl LaBash, Milt Neidenberg, Betsey Piette, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Gloria Rubac Technical Staff: Sue Davis, Shelley Ettinger, Bob McCubbin, Maggie Vascassenno Mundo Obrero: Carl Glenn, Teresa Gutierrez, Berta Joubert-Ceci, Donna Lazarus, Michael Martnez, Carlos Vargas Supporter Program: Sue Davis, coordinator Copyright 2012 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of articles is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved. Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weekly except the first week of January by WW Publishers, 55 W. 17 St., N.Y., N.Y. 10011. Phone: 212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: $30; institutions: $35. Letters to the editor may be condensed and edited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit to Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., New York, NY 10011. Back issues and individual articles are available on microfilm and/or photocopy from University Microfilms International, 300 Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106. A searchable archive is available on the Web at www.workers.org. A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription. Subscription information is at workers.org/email.php. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to

Down with capitalism! Build a Workers World!

National O ce Workers World Party 55 W. 17 St., 5th Fl. (WWP) ghts for New York, NY 10011 socialism and engages 212.627.2994 wwp@workers.org in struggles on all the issues that face Atlanta P.O. Box 5565 the working class & Atlanta, GA 30307 oppressed peoples Black & white, Latino/a, 404.627.0185 Asian, Arab and Native atlanta@workers.org peoples, women & men, Baltimore c/o Solidarity Center young & old, lesbian, 2011 N. Charles St. gay, bi, straight, trans, Baltimore, MD 21218 disabled, working, 443.909.8964 unemployed, undocubaltimore@workers.org mented & students. Boston If you would like to 284 Amory St. know more about WWP, Boston, MA 02130 or to join us in these 617.522.6626 Fax 617.983.3836 struggles, contact the boston@workers.org branch nearest you.

joi n join us

Bu alo, N.Y. 367 Delaware Ave. Bu alo, NY 14202 716.883.2534 bu alo@workers.org Chicago 27 N. Wacker Dr. #138 Chicago, IL 60606 chicago@workers.org 312.229.0161 Cleveland P.O. Box 5963 Cleveland, OH 44101 216.738.0320 cleveland@workers.org Denver denver@workers.org Detroit 5920 Second Ave. Detroit, MI 48202 313.459.0777 detroit@workers.org

Durham, N.C. 331 W. Main St., Ste. 408 Durham, NC 27701 919.322.9970 durham@workers.org Houston P.O. Box 3454 Houston, TX 77253-3454 713.503.2633 houston@workers.org Los Angeles 5278 W Pico Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90019 la@workers.org 323.306.6240 Milwaukee milwaukee@workers.org Philadelphia P.O. Box 34249 Philadelphia, PA 19101 610.931.2615 phila@workers.org

Pittsburgh pittsburgh@workers.org Rochester, N.Y. 585.436.6458 rochester@workers.org San Diego P.O. Box 33447 San Diego, CA 92163 619.692.0355 sandiego@workers.org San Francisco 2940 16th St., #207 San Francisco CA 94103 415.738.4739 sf@workers.org Tucson, Ariz. tucson@workers.org Washington, D.C. P.O. Box 57300 Washington, DC 20037 dc@workers.org

Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., 5th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10011.

workers.org

Nov. 8, 2012

Page 3

From Oakland to NYC

Family members, activists assail police brutality

By Monica Moorehead New York I am the proud father of Alan Blueford, murdered by the Oakland police, stated Adam Blueford. His spouse, Jeralynn Blueford, added, Alans murder was arbitrary, unnecessary and racist. Its sad to say but he was shot down because of the color of his skin. They profiled him by saying he looked suspicious. These gut-wrenching, heartfelt words were spoken at a powerful, moving public forum held here Oct. 27 on Fight All Police Terror: Solidarity with the Victims and their Families, sponsored by Workers World Party. The Bluefords had traveled from Oakland, Calif., to speak at forums in New York and Philadelphia on behalf of their 18-year-old beloved son, Alan Blueford, who was fatally shot on May 6 by police officer Miguel Masso. The parents are leaders of the Justice for Alan Blueford Campaign in the Bay Area. The campaign has held numerous demonstrations, including disruptions of Oakland City Council hearings. Also speaking at the forum was Oakland activist, Jack Bryson, who recounted the fatal police shooting of another young African American, Oscar Grant, during the early morning of New Years Day 2009 at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland. Jaribu Hill, a peoples lawyer and cultural worker, spoke on behalf of the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights and the Southern Human Rights Organizers Network. Larry Hales, a Workers World newspaper contributing editor, motivated the need to build Peoples Power Assemblies. Angry and outraged Adam Blueford gave a brief scenario of the events leading up to his sons death on May 6. Alan and two friends, who had earlier been at a Cinco de Mayo party and then watched a boxing match, were confronted by cops after midnight. When Alan ran from them out of fear, he was run down by Masso. The officer shot him three times in the chest as he was lying on the ground. Witnesses heard Alan say before he was shot, I didnt do anything. After being shot, he asked Masso, Why did you shoot me? before they let him bleed to death. Adam Blueford described Masso as a rogue cop with a known history of police abuse when he was a member of the New York Police Department and in Oakland. Masso was also a member of the military police in Iraq. Jeralynn Blueford, with tears flowing and righteous anger in her voice, provided many facts about her sons death. Among them was that his parents were not allowed to see the police report for six months and the coroners report for five months. The district attorneys office recently announced it would not bring any charges against Masso for Bluefords death. The police interviewed 39 witnesses in the Blueford case but used only one statement the one favorable to Massos claim. The police refused to meet with Alans parents when they went to the police station to try to get more information about their sons death. After sitting there for two to three hours, they gave up and left. Alan bled to death for lack of medical treatment, but Masso got immediate treatment for a gunshot wound in his foot. The media reported that Alan was in a shootout with the police. However, no gunpowder residue was found on his hands, and it turned out that Massos wound was self-inflicted. The media have not retracted their story. Jeralynn Blueford stated, This is a very traumatic thing that has happened to my family. It inspires me to fight. I am angry and outraged. I will never get over this. Our lives have been shattered. I never got the opportunity to hold my sons hand. That Masso was a rogue cop; that he [was in] Afghanistan or Iraq and doesnt care about life and can blow up people and not answer to anyone there but he is going to answer here. The International Longshore Workers Union Local 10 has passed a resolution calling on its members to support and attend the Bay Area Families March Against Police Brutality, initiated by the Justice for Alan Blueford Campaign, to take place on Nov. 10 at 12 noon, starting at 14th and Broadway in downtown Oakland. The resolution also called for the arrest of Masso on the charge of murder of Alan Blueford. Read the resolution at workers.org. Juanita Young, the mother of 23-year-old Malcolm Ferguson, who was killed by New York police on March 1, 2000, also made comments at the forum. With Jeralynn Blueford at her side, Young, an activist with the Oct. 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, spoke of the pain she still feels at the loss of her son. Holding a photo of Malcolm, she said, It isnt fair that because the police get the protection, we have to suffer. Killing leads to activism Jack Bryson gave a blow-byblow account of events leading to the killing of 22-year-old Oscar Grant by a Bay Area Rapid Transit cop early on New Years Day of 2009. Brysons two sons were eyewitnesses to the shooting, which was captured on several digital videos and led to a rebellion in the Oakland community. Bryson talked about how BART police had harassed and abused several youth in the Oakland station, threatening them with tasers. Grant was singled out while capturing the harassment of these youth, including one of Brysons sons, on video. BART cop Johannes Mehserle forced Grant, who was unarmed, to lie face down on the floor of the station and then shot him in the back. Grant bled to death, similar to Alan Blueford. Bryson compared the trial of Mehserle with the unjust trial of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. He stated that potential African-American jurors were summarily excluded from the jury because they testified to having been racially profiled by police. On the other hand, whites in the jury pool who expressed favorable views about the police were accepted on the jury. Bryson also talked about the unjust change in venue of the Mehserle trial from the predominantly Black city of Oakland to Los Angeles. Mehserle received a manslaughter conviction, resulting in an 11-month sentence a mere slap on the wrist.

WW PHOTOS: BRENDA RYAN

Clockwise: Jack Bryson, Juanita Young & Jeralynn Blueford; Monica Moorehead, Jaribu Hill, Larry Hales and Adam Blueford.

Still overcome with emotion, B r y s o n stated why he became an activist: It was a responsibility to my sons, to Oscar Grants family and to the community to get involved in activism and make it happen. I didnt want to do it, but I had no choice but to do it to protect my sons, other young men and the community. The Alan Blueford case is like Oscar Grant without the video. Bryson is an activist with the Justice for Alan Blueford Campaign and Occupy Oakland. Cant be xed! Mississippian Jaribu Hill gave a stirring talk on how the capitalist system is to blame for racist oppression. She likened the killings of Alan Blueford and Trayvon Martin to the 1955 brutal lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Money, Miss., by the Ku Klux Klan. Tills killers were acquitted. Hill went on to say, These killings take place unabated without prosecution, without punishment that fits the crime. Mississippi is the capital of all the murders and lynchings under the capital of law. I am talking about Nina Simones Mississippi. Hill was referring to the late, great singers 1963 recording of Mississippi Goddamn about racial segregation. Hill concluded: The capitalist system is corrupt. It cant be bandaged, cant be fixed. Cant work. The system is not only broken but rotten to the core and must come tumbling down. We gotta be militant! We gotta be revolutionary!

Pushing the struggle forward Larry Hales connected the killings of Alan Blueford and other youth of color to the general role the police play in capitalist society: Their job is to maintain the status quo; to stand between you and those who own the majority of the society the wealthy. If you go to a strike picket line, the role of cops is to stop workers from seizing the factory. The day after the elections, nothing will have changed. The same brutal conditions will still be there. People didnt get the right to vote by pulling a lever but by fighting and dying for it. In motivating the need for Peoples Power Assemblies, Hales stated, We have to see the commonality in our struggles and we have to begin to fight for power. And it might start with fighting against police brutality and for community control over the police. It might start with the resignation of a police chief or the entire City Council. But from there it will grow to a fight for the right to schools and education; it will go from being very specific to very general because these things arent separate from one another. The brutality that we face is not separate from degradation and austerity; it is part and parcel of something much bigger. So when we talk about PPAs, it means that we must begin to organize and in the process of organizing, we must begin to make the system itself ungovernable. We must destroy the old order and build something that is much more human on top of it. The writer chaired the forum. Go to youtube.com/WWPvideo to watch the entire program.

Page 4

Nov. 8, 2012

workers.org

Team Solidarity mobilizes workers, community

By Hannah Kirschbaum Boston Team Solidarity, a rank-and-file organization of school bus union workers largely in the Boston area, has the perspective of uniting bus drivers, mechanics, monitors, dispatchers and other school bus union workers. By working with parent organizations, teachers, the Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts and other educational activists, it also aims to unite with the communities that its members serve in their struggles against racist attacks on equal quality education. Founded by leaders and rank-and-file members of United Steelworkers Local 8751 this fall, Team Solidarity consists of members of Local 8751 (First Student Co. of Boston and Eastern Bus Co. of Somerville, Belmont, Waltham, Wellesley, and Cambridge, Mass.) and Teamsters Local 653 (First Student Co. of Brockton, Mass.), with long-distance support from members of United Transit Union Local 1741 (First Student Co. of San Francisco). The group works to embody the motto of the 1970s militant Center for United Labor Action: If you dont have a union, fight to get one. If you have one, fight to make it fight! It has weekly organizing meetings, held alternately at Bostons Workers World office, Service Employees Local 888 hall in Somerville, and Bishop Filipe Teixeiras Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Brockton. According to Team Solidarity leader Georgia Scott, In 2012, we are still fighting the same racism we fought in Selma in the 1960s. Labor must stand in solidarity in the fight to defend the Black communitys right to equal education. Scott is a veteran USW 8751 steward and Civil Rights activist from Selma, Ala. In this vein, important meetings hosted by the Coalition for Equal Quality Education are being held to formulate a strategy to stop the efforts of Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and the school department to resegregate Boston public schools. Similar resegregation campaigns are planned in towns throughout the state. Labor & community rally for Eastern A Solidarity Day with the Eastern Bus drivers was held on Sept. 28 outside the Somerville bus yard. The workers have filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board against Eastern, which include refusal to bargain, failure to deliver documents to the union for negotiations, illegal firing of two union leaders, illegal installation of surveillance cameras, illegal implementation of a new disciplinary policy, and retaliatory reductions in pay and work. The NLRB will go forward with a majority (more than 20) of the unfair labor charges. Leaflets and posters were created and

Bostons workers get together to battle Eastern Bus Company.

WW PHOTO

distributed for the Sept. 28 event, and outreach and organizing were conducted throughout the labor movement and the communities. Despite rain and the presence of several Somerville police cars, the event saw a great turnout of supporters, including Cambridge Vice Mayor E. Denise Simmons; USW International Representative Joe Carlson; Rich Rogers of the Greater Boston Labor Council; Bishop Teixeira; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2222 Business Manager Myles Calvey; and SEIU Local 888 Organizer Rand Wilson. Members of USW at NSTAR Electric and Gas, SEIU Local 509, Communication Workers, the International Action Center and Womens Fightback Network also attended. For approximately three hours, Team Solidarity and its supporters maintained a moving picket line outside the Somerville yard, chanting for the return of the fired Eastern drivers and demanding contract negotiations. At one point, the majority of those present moved onto the property to present owner Chuck Winitzer with a formal letter demanding contract negotiations and rehiring of the fired drivers. Winitzer refused to allow the Eastern drivers to enter the trailer that serves as the office. His son came outside to call the cops over. After a nearly 30-minute standoff, one Eastern driver was allowed to enter the trailer and hand-deliver the letter to Winitzer. Winitzers son then followed the picketers back to the edge of the property and closed the gates, denying further entrance to the bus yard. Solidarity Day

received extensive and positive media coverage from a local newspaper, The Somerville Journal. After the extremely successful Solidarity Day, Team Solidarity returned the support it received from Vice Mayor Simmons by attending the Cambridge City Council meeting on Oct. 1. Team Solidarity packed the chambers, and a delegation of several Eastern drivers was able to speak and read aloud a letter from Rep. Michael E. Capuano. The City Council members and mayor of Cambridge then unanimously passed a resolution proposed by Vice Mayor Simmons in favor of the Eastern drivers. In part, it says that the City Council goes on record in urging Eastern Bus Company to obey the law and immediately convene negotiations[,] that [Eastern] rehire any drivers that have been terminated as a consequence of their involvement in organizing their union, that the company refrain from any form of retaliation against those workers who sought to organize, and that the company treat all its workers with the respect and dignity they deserve. Vice Mayor Simmons offered additional support by pledging to aid Team Solidarity in organizing in other towns serviced by Eastern Bus Co. At a large labor rally for Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren on Oct. 13, Team Solidarity and Eastern workers distributed more than 1,000 leaflets that stated, Stand with USW Drivers at Eastern. Eastern workers received the formal endorsement of AFL-CIO National President Richard Trumka, Massachusetts

AFL-CIO President Steve Tolman, USW International President Leo Gerard, and scores of others, including Warren. Struggles with Eastern Bus Co. continue Winitzer has contacted the union requesting the commencement of negotiations. However, many drivers who have been active in union organizing have received deductions in their wages and cuts to the amount of work they receive. In the meantime, another important violation has come to light. In a thinly veiled attempt by Eastern to evade legitimate representation by the Steelworkers in the towns of Newton and Medford, Mass., the employer has brought in a company union for the workers. Attached to their clipboards, the employees received a fraudulent contract which neither contains the input of the workers nor represents their interests. These illegal actions set up what is called a runaway shop. Operations for these two towns are conducted out of the Somerville bus yard, where USW is the sole collective bargaining agent. Newton and Medford ought to be included in the bargaining unit represented by USW. In late October, the employer fired a Medford driver for union activity. Team Solidarity has joined with the Medford and Newton workers to fight for justice for the worker. United rank-and-file action, in conjunction with solidarity in the labor movement and the community, has once again achieved important successes in the fight for workers rights.

Oaklands port workers organize mutual support

By Terri Kay Oakland, Calif. Port workers employed by different bosses and doing various types of labor at the Port of Oakland and the Oakland International Airport have begun to organize to support each others struggles. They are demanding the right to organize, fair wages, decent working conditions and an end to discriminatory practices. Some of these workers belong to unions, such as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10, Service Employees union Local 1021 and UNITE-HERE Local 2850. Many others dont belong to any union yet, but are fighting for the right to do so. All these workers are employed by bosses under the jurisdiction of the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners. Organizing themselves as the Port Workers Assembly, they have just published their first newsletter, which they named Turning the Tide. This first issue included articles by Clarence Thomas, ILWU Local 10; Joel Schor, Sailors Union of the Pacific; a warehouse worker; a port truck driver; and a rank-and-file clerical worker who is a member of SEIU Local 1021. On Oct. 26, the Port Workers Assembly supported a rally held by UNITE-HERE Local 2850 in response to the Jamba Juice companys firing of a worker at the Oakland airport. Of 12 Jamba Juice employees, she was the second worker fired because of her union organizing efforts. Two workers at the airport Subway store have also been fired for union involvement. UNITE-HERE has called for a boycott of the nonunion concessions at the Oakland airport. These include Sees Candies, Auntie Annes Pretzels, Jamba Juice, Subway, Burger King and World Passage Duty Free. All the food and retail concessions at the airport are contracted by the port commissioners to the HMS Host company. Two hundred people who work for HMS Host directly are members of UNITE-HERE 2850, whose contract expired on July 1. The other 100 retail and concession workers at the airport work for franchises subcontracted by HMS Host and have no union protection. The Host contract with

workers.org

Nov. 8, 2012

Page 5

A monopoly of proprietary seeds

By Betsey Piette
Along with DuPont and Syngenta, Monsanto controls 47 percent of the worldwide proprietary seed market. Today farmers buying Monsanto patented seeds must agree not to save the seeds for replanting or sell seeds to other farmers. Each year farmers must buy new seeds as well as more Roundup weed killer from Monsanto. A farmer who attempts to reuse or cull seeds is likely to receive a visit from Monsanto seed police. Monsantos seed patents, which make it illegal for farmers to reuse genetically engineered seeds, apply even if GE seeds end up in fields by accident. Over a third of U.S. cropland is already contaminated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). According to the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association, Monsanto seed police investigate more than 500 farmers every year. Since the mid-1990s, Monsanto has sued 145 farmers for patent infringements; an additional 700 farmers settled disputes with Monsanto out of court. Traditional seeds are disappearing. In the 1990s most seed companies were purchased by pesticide manufacturers who saw a potential profit in monopolizing both aspects of farm production. The problem is global. With the assistance of the World Banks structural adjustment policies, agriculture in India was laid open to Monsanto GE seeds in 1998. Peasant farmers in India, while paying higher prices to plant GMO seeds, hoped to reap the higher yields Monsanto promised. But instead Indian farmers ended up buying greater quantities of pesticides. The GE seeds also required more water to grow. Farmers became dependent on Monsanto to buy seeds for the next years crops, further increasing their poverty and indebtedness. Since the introduction of GE seeds in India an estimated 200,000 farmers have committed suicide unable to overcome their new impoverishment. In 2009, Monsantos GM maize failed to produce kernels for South African farmers, leaving some with 80 percent crop failure. The company compensated large-scale farmers, but gave nothing to small-scale farmers who had been given free packets of seeds. (Natural Science, April 19)

PART 2

Monsanto, genetic engineering and food

duced the crop yields promised by Monsanto, but farmers are increasingly harvesting something they never planned for super weeds! As a result of Roundup Ready seeds overuse, a massive amount of super weeds now affect around 15 million acres of U.S. agricultural crops. Super weeds are also being documented in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Europe and South Africa. Around a dozen super weeds, including giant ragweed, have become resistant to spraying with Roundup weed killer, even at 24 times the recommended dose. (BBC World Service, Sept. 18) GE crops have also increased cumulative pesticide use about 400 million pounds since 1996 as insects become more resistant. Just as DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) use led to the evolution of resistant pests and the need for even more toxic pesticides, GMO seeds today have joined the pesticide treadmill, says food activist Jill Richardson, with the Organic Consumers Association. (PR Watch, Aug. 28) While repeated use of Roundup weed killer has been linked to a reduction in the Monarch butterfly population, because it destroys their milkweed habitat, other insect populations are increasing, having become pesticide resistant due to wider use of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) seeds. When simply sprayed on crops, the insecticidal protein Bt breaks down quickly. But genetically engineered Bt seed crops retain the chemical in every cell. As of 2012, 67 percent of corn and 77 percent of cotton in the U.S. are being grown from Bt seeds. A 2010 study found Bt in 93 percent of maternal blood and 80 percent of fetal blood sampled. Increased pesticide use has been linked to widespread amphibian decline over the last 30 years and also declining bee populations. Combined with a return to arsenic applications in agricultural fields, it puts rural communities, farm workers and the general population at greater risk. Arsenic still kills Since the 19th century, arsenic could be found in many common pesticides, including calcium arsenate preferred for cotton field use. This dangerous practice continued until the 1950s. While many farm children died from exposure, farmers overlooked arsenics lethal nature because it was effective against some hardto-kill pests. Its not known how many AfricanAmerican farm workers, the dominant labor force in cotton fields, died from exposure. By the 1930s, over 100 million people in the U.S. showed symptoms of arsenic and lead poisoning, but the USDA still supported its use. (Contributor Network, Sept. 20) haircut, $324 for a pair of golf shoes and thousands more in extravagant entertainment outings. In addition, the ILWUs contract with the grain employers in the Pacific Northwest expired on Sept. 30. Negotiations are scheduled to begin on Oct. 29. The talks temporarily avert a planned lockout by the employers, who are trying to shove a very concessionary and restrictive contract, modeled after the contract with EGT in Longview, Wash., down the collective throats of the longshore workers. The Port Workers Assembly is endeavoring to unite other port workers in solidarity should there be strike actions or a lockout. In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of arsenical pesticides, including MSMA (monosodium methanearsonate) on food as well as cotton fields. However, in 2009, claiming that weeds affecting cotton fields had become glyphosate resistant, cotton farmers successfully lobbied the EPA to again allow MSMA use indefinitely. A study published by Consumer Reports found high levels of arsenic in rice products, including baby food. (issue dated November 2012) Rice with the highest concentrations of arsenic came from south central U.S. states with a history of MSMA use on cotton crops. Monsanto Protection Act Just how dangerous GMO products may be to human health is unknown. The [Food and Drug Administration] has not conducted a single independent test of any genetically engineered product. The agency simply accepts the testing completed and provided by biotechnology corporations like Monsanto, wrote Dr. Joseph Mercola in Natural Society. (Sept. 14) The Pesticide Action Network charges that the USDA has been speed approving the latest creations coming from Monsanto, reducing the approval time and subsequently the ability to measure the true effects. Earlier this year, requests for 12 new genetically engineered crops were submitted to the USDA for approval. Nine are under a new fast-track process that requires no independent studies. This speed-up resulted from industry backlash following legal challenges to the deregulation of Roundup Ready alfalfa and Roundup Ready sugar beets. In both cases the courts required the USDA to complete a more extensive Environmental Impact Statement prior to deregulating crops, instead of an Environmental Assessment that limited the level of public involvement and shortened the time allowed for response. The courts also ruled that the crops in question could not be planted during the appeals process. The USDA has since completed EISs for both crops and approved their deregulation, despite massive public opposition. But this was not good enough for the industry giants, who got the 2013 agriculture appropriations bill amended to include a rider, Section 733, referred to as the farmer assurance provision. Food Democracy Now! calls Section 733 the Monsanto Protection Act. If the bill passes with this rider, any farmer requesting to plant a GMO that had been removed from the market after USDA regulation would have to be granted a permit to do so, even if the crops safety was in question or under review. The 2012 Farm Bill was also amended to limit the time and scope of future reviews of GE crops by requiring only EA, not EIS, reviews, and mandating that the USDA complete the reviews in 18 months. The provision forbade the USDA from spending money for a broader environmental impact study on a GMO. Monsanto plagued by Rachel Carson, now rats This government rubber stamping of GMO permits has not lessened the heat on Monsanto. In September, while Congress was busy rewriting legislation to protect Monsanto and Dow, French scientists released a study that found rats fed on Monsantos GMO corn or exposed to Roundup Ready seeds suffered tumors and multiple organ damage. (Reuters, Sept. 12) Gilles-Eric Seralini and colleagues at the University of Caen fed rats a diet containing NK603 a Roundup Ready seed variety or gave them water with Roundup weed killer at levels permitted in the U.S. The rats died earlier than those in the control study. The rats fed the GMO diet also suffered tumors, as well as severe liver and kidney damage. The study tracked the animals throughout their two-year lifespan. Given that three months is only the equivalent of early adulthood in rats, Seralini noted that his lifetime rat tests provided a more realistic view of the risks than the 90-day feeding trials typically used for GMO crop approvals. Just as Rachel Carsons early call for action against the environmental hazards of DDT was ridiculed by its producer Monsanto, it is not surprising that the company was quick to dismiss the French findings. Monsanto took issue that the strain of rats [in the study] is very prone to mammary tumors. Seralini responded that he used the same rat strain that Monsanto did to get government authorization in its 90-day trials. The FDA approved Monsantos use of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in cows after only a 90-day test using small animals. Wisconsin geneticist William von Meyer noted, But people drink milk for a lifetime. (Vanity Fair, May 2008) Monsanto is facing more challenges. In July, the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association asked a U.S. Appeals Court in Washington to reverse a dismissal of the associations 2011 lawsuit to invalidate Monsantos GMO seed patents and prevent the company from suing farmers whose crops became contaminated by airborne GMO seeds. Hawaii is a global center for open-air field testing of experimental GE crops grown for export. As a result, a majority of food is being imported to the islands as the biotech industry takes over valuable agricultural lands and water. Monsanto operates about 8,000 acres for GE seed production there, yet no environmental impact studies have been done. In June protesters demonstrated outside the companys headquarters on Oahu to demand that Monsanto leave Hawaii and that GMO foods be labeled. Similar protests were held on Maui and Kauai. Organizers vowed more protests until Monsanto leaves the islands. (Eco Watch, July 5) On Nov. 6, California voters will decide if they have the right to know whats in the food they eat. Proponents of this grassroots-powered ballot initiative suggest that the same companies that lied about DDT, Agent Orange, PCBs and other toxic chemicals just might not be trustworthy when it comes to telling the truth about the dangers of genetically modified foods. Part I can be read at workers.org.

From super seeds to super weeds The increased use of Roundup Ready seeds has led to a 20-fold increase in the use of Monsanto herbicides. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in 1994, farmers applied 4.9 million pounds of glyphosate on soybean crops. By 2006 (last available data), they used 96.7 million pounds. (Mother Jones, July 18) Planting GMO seeds hasnt always prothe port requires them to provide a living wage higher than the current minimum wage and to honor union card check for union recognition. Host is not enforcing these rules with any of the subcontracted franchises. The SEIU 1021 port workers are also without a contract. They took over the Port Commission meeting on Oct. 19, forcing the commissioners to adjourn. The SEIU statement read, While Port executives demand SEIU Local 1021 members give up decent wages and healthcare, investigations this week reveal that those same executives have been egregiously misusing public funds since 2008, including $4,500 at a strip club, $476 for a

NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING 2012

THURS., NOV. 22
Coles Hill, Plymouth, MA For more information: uaine.org & facebook.com/ events/528639163818793/ Bus leaving from Solidarity Center, 55 W. 17th St., 5th r., Manhattan. 6 am sharp to DOM; $30/$40 round-trip. See Marie for tickets or call 212.633.6646, weekdays (3 pm 8 pm).

Page 6

Nov. 8, 2012

workers.org

Historic victory for immigrant workers

By Sue Davis New York The slogan Dare to struggle, dare to win was validated Oct. 26 when the courageous immigrant workers in the Hot and Crusty Workers Association (HACWA) won a hard-fought, 11-month struggle for a collective bargaining agreement. After a 55-day strike at the H&C store on East 63rd Street, the workers won a precedent-setting three-year contract that includes a wage increase, paid vacation and sick time, union hiring hall, and seniority, grievance and arbitration procedures. Mahoma Lopez, who has worked at the H&C shop for seven years, said all the workers are excited because this is more than just a contract for us. We are putting an example out there for other workers and other immigrant workers that anything is possible when you organize. We want others to take this victory to their own workplaces so we can make change in this country. (Laundry Workers Center United press release, Oct. 26) The Laundry Workers Center in New York City, which supported and trained the workers during the organizing campaign, noted, It has been demonstrated through this campaign that immigrant workers can effect concrete changes when they lead their own struggles. This is a great victory for the workers, and we are eager to build on this momentum within our other campaigns. Attorney Eugene Eisner, who represented HACWA during negotiations with the new owners of the H&C store, stressed the historic nature of the agreement. Its virtually unheard of for lowwage, foreign-born workers in the restaurant industry. These workers should be incredibly proud of their determination to stand up to the employers threats not to reopen and ultimately achieve all of their demands. For years the H&C workers prepared and served food and drink under unsafe conditions for sub-minimum wages and zero paid overtime, with some employees working as many as 70 hours a week. Verbal abuse and racist, sexist harassment were rampant. Emboldened by the Occupy Wall Street movement, the workers announced their organizing campaign on Jan. 21 of this year and certified HACWA on May 23. After a successful union election in August, the stores previous owners announced they were closing the shop in retaliation for the election, so the workers went on strike. The strikers, who picketed, marched and rallied to get their jobs back, in-

WW PHOTO: ANNE PRUDEN

Hot & Crusty workers and union supporters picket a Manhattan store on Oct. 18.

spired a tremendous outpouring of solidarity. Residents of Manhattans Upper East Side signed petitions supporting the strikers unprecedented in a largely wealthy enclave not usually identified with supporting unions. In addition, nearby Hunter College students and faculty paid daily visits, letters of support came from dozens of unions and labor organizations, and messages of solidarity

arrived from around the country. More than 100 labor, community and OWS supporters attended a solidarity rally on Oct. 18, with representatives from at least 15 unions. The H&C workers victory has revived the slogan Dare to struggle, dare to win. Lets hope other workers will be inspired by their example to, as Mahoma Lopez said, make change in this country.

Join us as we discuss the need for a struggle for Peoples Power

A NATIONAL CALL TO BUILD & EXPAND

The Assembly Movement is a Global Response to a Global Crisis!.

SAT NOV 10 2-5 p.m.

JOBS FOR ALL NO BUDGET CUTS

NO TO RACISM,

WAR &

FIGHT BACK SUMMIT

mass incarceration

to build peoples power!

Solidarity Center 55 W 17th Street 5th Floor

(5th & 6th Ave.), Manhattan: take any train to 14th St.

STOP POLICE TERROR

from Baltimore to Oakland Community Control Now!

PEOPLES POWER ASSEMBLIES

Come to the rst New York strategy meeting and participate in a discussion with community, union, anti-war activists and leaders and organizers from many struggles, including against police brutality and for immigrant rights. For more info, contact 212-633-6646 or visit www.occupy4jobs.org.
WOMENS
& LGTBQ

MORATORIU MORATORIUM on foreclosures & evictions

RIGHTS

IMMIGRANT & WORKERS

& HEALTHCARE

EDUCATION
& MUCH MORE.

RIGHTS

n Nov. 10, organizers and activists will discuss the struggle for social and economic justice and take up convening Peoples Power Assemblies at the local and regional level, as well as a Preliminary National Peoples Power Assembly in Baltimore on Dec. 15. No matter who wins the presidential election, the 1% and their political system are planning to push 99% of us o a scal cli . Under scal-cli orders from Wall Street, the politicians after the elections are planning massive federal cuts in social programs, including devastating cuts to education, housing, transportation, healthcare and unemployment bene ts. The politicians are not going to defend the people; we must prepare to defend ourselves. A Peoples Power Assembly movement is revolutionary democracy. The central purpose will be to plan a massive and sustained grass-roots struggle in defense of

the social and economic rights of the 99%. It has never been clearer that both the Republican and the Democratic parties, while they may appear di erent, fundamentally represent the interests of the 1%. The Occupy Movement provided a preview of what is possible and necessary. Now its time to launch the next phase a Peoples Power movement that is representative of the 99% and especially the most oppressed within the 99%. A Peoples Power Assembly movement is necessary to: End depression-level unemployment, especially among the youth. End the systematic destruction of what remains of programs that provide some degree of income, food, housing, medical care, social security, and education, and demand our economic and social rights.

See to it that our youth will not face a future where they will be more likely to live in a prison cell or die at the hands of the police than hold a living-wage job or go to college. End foreclosures, evictions, low wages, union-busting, the massive deportations of undocumented workers, and looting of pensions to bail out banks, all of which will swell the ranks of the hungry and the homeless. Demand that the money, which is wasted on the wars that serve the imperialist aims of the 1%, be used to meet the social needs of the people here instead of devastating the lives of people abroad. Build a global peoples movement on the climate crisis and force the corporations to pay for the crisis that they created.

workers.org

Nov. 8, 2012

Page 7

Holy Land 5 appeal rejected by Supreme Court

Noor Elashi, daughter of Holy Land 5 defendant Ghassan Elashi, describes her fathers case in the following excerpted article, published Oct. 24 on The Electronic Intifada website. Actions were held on Oct. 25 in 10 U.S. cities to demand freedom for the Holy Land 5. On Oct. 26, the Supreme Court decided that it would not hear their case. Attorneys for the five and the Muslim Legal Fund of America are analyzing their options and plan to announce shortly how they will proceed. The [Supreme Court] decision will come after 11 tumultuous years of raids, arrests, trials and appeals. This will be the last legal recourse for the Holy Land Five charity leaders, who are now serving sentences ranging from 15 to 65 years. My father, Ghassan Elashi, has told me that when he co-founded the Holy Land Foundation in 1989, he knew it would be challenging because [U.S.] American foreign policy has been in favor of Israel, and thus, Palestinian sovereignty has not been a main concern. Although the Holy Land Foundations funds were distributed across the world, a large percentage of their donations went to Palestine. So as the HLF blossomed, becoming the largest American Muslim charity, it came as no surprise that a campaign was launched against it in the 1990s. Prosecutors used the Material Support Statute, enhanced by the Patriot Act, to charge my father in 2004. The vague nature of the law made it easy for prosecutors to claim that the Holy Land Five gave material support in the form of charity (food, blankets, medicine, etc.) to Palestinian zakat (charity-giving) committees that were allegedly controlled by or worked on behalf of Hamas and thereby helped Hamas win the hearts and minds of Palestinians. None of the zakat committees are listed as designated terrorists by the Department of Treasury. In fact, these zakat committees, or distribution centers, listed on the Holy Land Foundations indictment also received funds from American government agencies, most notably USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. Although the first jury deadlocked on most counts, the jury from the second trial returned all guilty verdicts. My father received a sentence of 65 years and was moved away from my family in Dallas to a Communications Management Unit in rural Illinois. The CMU, located in the city of Marion, mostly holds Muslim men charged after 11 September 2001. The purpose of this secluded prison, opened during the Bush administration, is to restrict the amount of phone calls and visitations the inmates get, all while monitoring their every move. The Supreme Court is expected to review our petition for writ of certiorari. In this petition, the defense team states that the HLF case presents the perfect oppor-

WW PHOTO: ANNE PRUDEN

Bill Dores of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression speaks at Oct. 25 protest in NYC.

tunity for the court to determine whether or under what circumstances the prosecution can present anonymous witnesses. Anonymous witness testimony violates rights They are referring to the prosecutions star witness, an Israeli intelligence officer who testified under the false name of Avi, making it the first time in American history that an expert witness was allowed to testify using a pseudonym. Defense lawyers state that Avis testimony violated my fathers sixth amendment right to confront his accuser. In the petition, defense lawyers also argue that prosecutors presented hearsay evidence, documents that predated the

1995 designation of Hamas, documents with unknown authors and documents seized from co-conspirators who were not defendants in the HLF case. Now, with the upcoming elections less than two weeks away and as the highest court of the land decides on the fate of the Holy Land Five, I want to say to my father: no matter what happens in the next few days, let us not be brought down. Let us hold on to that patience and mercy as we keep moving onward. Remember, baba, we are approaching not the end, but the beginning. And you will remain in the consciousness of many until the day you are exonerated. To learn more about the HLF case, visit www.freedomtogive.com.

Global slowdown brings mass layo s

Neither Obama, Romney can x capitalism
Continued from page 1 companies since Sept. 1 have announced plans to eliminate more than 62,600 positions at home and abroad, the biggest twomonth drop since the start of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Firings total 158,100 so far this year, more than the 129,000 job cuts in the same period in 2011. (Bloomberg News, Oct. 25) There is fear that the economic recovery is not picking up as sales come in below estimates. Hewlett-Packard announced in September that it plans 29,000 job cuts as personal computer sales slow around the world. Banks in the U.S. are planning 19,000 job cuts, while the giant Swiss bank UBS is planning 10,000 layoffs. Ford is closing two European factories, one in Belgium and one in Britain, and will cut 6,200 jobs or 13 percent of its European workforce. Dow Chemical will close about 20 plants, eliminating 2,400 jobs. DuPont plans 1,500 layoffs right away and more in the future if profits continue to decline. AMD, the second-largest chip maker for personal computers, will lay off 15 percent of its workforce; Colgate-Palmolive, the engine maker Cummins and KimberlyClark are among the giants that have announced layoffs due to a decline in profits and/or sales. The giant corporations are a bellwether for the global economy and for what the workers will confront in the coming period as capitalism is unable to lift itself out of the crisis begun in 2007. Big picture: capitalism cant stop global slowdown Some signs of the bigger picture seep through the media. The Financial Times points out that, despite the rise in profit margins on the index of the S&P 500 corporations over the last several years, sales growth on the index has been down for a year and a half. In other words, the markets have been unable to absorb the output of the corporations. Nevertheless, these firms have been able to squeeze out rising profits, mostly by speeding up workers or cutting them out altogether. Thats how they boost profits despite declining sales. The Wall Street Journal of Oct. 26 notes how dismal the 2 percent growth rate is for the economy: After the much milder recession of 1990-1991 the economy reeled off four straight quarters of better than 4% growth. The article failed to point out that even with 4 percent growth, that was the first jobless recovery in post-World War II history meaning that despite economic growth, workers were not rehired. The hard fact regarding the development of technology under capitalism is that the more productive labor becomes, the greater must be the rate of growth of the capitalist economy in order to create jobs for all those made redundant. But the rate of economic growth is not increasing. It is declining as technology grows. Officially, the economy has generated 146,000 new jobs a month on average which is just about enough to match population growth. Thus, the 23 million officially unemployed, underemployed or forced part-time workers cannot look forward to a capitalist recovery lifting them out of their misery. On the contrary, the winds of economic crisis and downturn are blowing stronger and stronger, from Asia to Europe to Latin America. The workers in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy are already in a state of resistance to the crisis. Strikes and demonstrations are growing more frequent, more numerous and more widespread throughout the continent. The ruling class here is fearful that these winds will stream into the U.S. and provoke a European-style wave of working-class resistance and/or explosions in the oppressed communities. The next administration, whether it is led by Obama or Romney, will be imposing more painful cutbacks. several months, are not the issues that dominate the political debate, wrote Leonhardt. At the top of the list are the digital revolution, which has allowed machines to replace many forms of human labor, and the modern wave of globalization, which has allowed millions of low-wage workers around the world to begin competing with Real issue: capitalism is at a dead end Americans. The debate between Obama and RomThe core of this analysis was begun not ney about who can turn the economy by bourgeois economists but by a Marxist, around is utterly false. The crisis of unem- Sam Marcy, in his groundbreaking work, ployment is generated by the capitalist sys- High Tech, Low Pay, written in 1985. tem, which has reached a stage that cannot Marcy, who was the founder of Workbe reversed in any fundamental way. ers World Party, said of the scientificThe growth of job-destroying tech- technological revolution that its whole nology and the creation of a globalized tendency is to diminish the labor force economy in which workers everywhere while attempting to increase production. are in a wage competition and a race to The technological revolution is therefore the bottom are developments beyond the a quantum jump whose devastating efcontrol of politicians, or the capitalists fects require a revolutionary strategy to themselves, for that matter. This pro- overcome. cess is driven by the struggle to get the This was written in the wake of the capmost profit. This has always been the law italist restructuring of industry going on driving capitalist development. It means during the Reagan administration. Since making fewer and fewer workers turn out that time, the scientific-technological atmore and more goods in less and less time tack on the workers has deepened and at lower and lower wages. widened onto a global arena. This writer The dangers of this process are be- followed the process in 2008 with the ginning to seep into the consciousness book Low-Wage Capitalism, which anaof sections of the capitalist economic lyzed the globalization process and its efestablishment. fect on the worldwide working class along David Leonhardt, one of the chief eco- the lines begun by Marcy. nomic writers for the New York Times, While the consciousness of the bourwrote a major piece on Oct. 24 based on geoisie can only extend to the symptoms polling a number of economists about the of their crisis, the working class can and real issues behind the economic crisis. must understand the cause of the crisis: Leonhardt noted that real family in- the capitalist system. And it must learn come is now 8 percent below what it was that the only way to combat the crisis is 11 years ago, while in the decades follow- through mass mobilization and struggle. ing World War II it had increased by 30 The only way to end the crisis once and percent. for all is with the destruction of capitalThe biggest causes, according to in- ism and the creation of a socialist system terviews with economists over the last based on human need, not profit.

Page 8

Nov. 8, 2012

workers.org

Crisis in China, Part 13

In guise of exposing corruption New York Times aims blow at China

By Fred Goldstein The New York Times has committed an act of journalistic aggression against China. On Oct. 25, it splashed across the top of the front page a three-column article, complete with color photos, claiming that relatives of Wen Jiabao have gotten extremely rich because of their relationship to the outgoing Chinese premier. This blast of exposure comes just days before the opening of the Communist Party Congress, which is to preside over a once-in-a-decade change in the top party leadership. The Times claims that the article, which supposedly documents the collective amassing of $2.7 billion by Wens relatives, has been worked on for a year and that now the story is ready to go. There has been much speculation as to the motives of the Times, particularly whether the article was politically motivated on behalf of one faction or another in the Chinese leadership. Only subsequent information can reveal anything about such speculation. It is ironic that the Times is trying to undermine Wen, who has been the most prominent of those in Chinas top leadership promoting reform and opening up. Wen is also the harshest enemy of Bo Xilai, because Bo was trying to slow down the march along the capitalist road, promote the welfare of the workers and the peasants, and revive the socialist spirit and the culture of Mao Zedong. Wen denounced Bo and warned of a possible return to the Cultural Revolution. The fact that the Times opened up an attack on Wen could also signify that it is trying to ally with forces further to the right than he those who want to use the campaign against corruption to push further toward introducing capitalist political parties in China. At this point speculation must be put aside and the world must await further clarification concerning this attack. But one thing stands out about the timing of the article and the prominence given to it, regardless of its accuracy: It is a flagrant act of imperialist intervention in the political process in China at a critical moment. What also stands out is that it is the height of hypocrisy for the Times a mouthpiece of U.S. capitalism and imperialism, which is the font of corruption at home and abroad on a monumental scale to expose corruption in China. Washington, the State Department, the militaryindustrial complex, the CIA, the giant monopolies and banks all bribe and corrupt officials at home and abroad in the quest for contracts, policy changes, special laws favoring corporations, arms sales, etc. This is a case of a thief crying thief. And the last thing the workers and peasants of China need is for the corporate predators behind the New York Times to stand as a watchdog over the virtue of their country. Capitalism breeds corruption in China It is widely known both inside and outside China that ever since Deng Xiaoping opened up the door to capitalism and imperialist corporate penetration, under the slogan socialism with Chinese characteristics or so-called market socialism, the acquisitive bourgeois spirit has spread throughout China among sections of officialdom and the Communist Party. The practice of using party or government positions for personal gain is prevalent, from the local to the highest levels. This has bred cynicism and alienation and gone a long way to erode the socialist spirit that prevailed in China until the death of Mao. Demonstrations against various forms of corruption or the results of corruption have spread throughout China especially demonstrations against government officials making land deals with developers at the expense of the peasants. Under Deng and his successors, capitalist market relations were elevated to become the principal means of stimulating economic development. Socialist social relations were sacrificed to market-driven development of the productive forces in the name of modernization. Even the great state-owned enterprises and state economic planning exist within the framework of capitalist market mechanisms. Legitimatizing capitalism, exploitation and profit-seeking leads inevitably to corruption. Want to root out corruption? Return to socialist road The road to rooting out corruption in China lies along the path of restoring the early socialist traditions of the Chinese Revolution. This is hardly a prescription the New York Times would advocate. During the early period of the Chinese Revolution, and especially during the Cultural Revolution, whatever its excesses may have been, the quest for personal wealth was frowned upon, and the collectivist, egalitarian, anti-bureaucratic spirit animated the Maoist sections of the party and had a great following among the masses. During the Cultural Revolution, the Paris Commune model was revived with the direct leadership of the masses in politics and administration. Government officials were subject to recall. Salaries were limited. Party members and officials were to participate in the life of the masses. The workers were empowered politically, while the peasants had been organized into communes early in the revolution. With regard to corruption, Russian revolutionary leader V.I. Lenin in 1917 followed the Paris Commune model. No party member, no matter his or her status, could receive a salary higher than that of the highest-paid worker. It was called the law of the maximum. It was later removed by Stalin. Under Lenin limited privileges were granted to experts on a provisional basis, until such time as the workers could develop sufficient expertise on their own. This was also later reversed. For years moderate and right-wing elements within the CPC have used the argument that modernization requires having capitalists and capitalism, with all its efficiencies and expertise. But they were held in check by Mao and the forces around him on the left. This argument is a rationalization for allowing the rise of privileged elements. The workers and peasants can achieve miracles of modernization and socialist construction if they are given the opportunity. That would put China in a much stronger position vis-a-vis capitalist restoration, counterrevolution and imperialism. This subject requires much more extended analysis at a future time. But for now, suffice it to say that the New York Times is the greatest champion of further capitalist reform and further imperialist penetration in China. The last thing it would want to see is a mass campaign to restore the socialist spirit in China, with the empowerment of the workers and peasants, which is the true way to root out corruption at all levels. This gratuitous blast against corruption involving Wen Jiabao, even if every word is true, is carried out in the service of undermining Chinas socialist heritage and promoting the further development of capitalism. Goldstein is the author of Low-Wage Capitalism and Capitalism at a Dead End. More information is available at www.lowwagecapitalism.com. The author can be reached at fgoldstein@ workers.org.

Greece wracked by health-care crisis

By Kathy Durkin What is the price of austerity? For many workers in Greece, its their health. It is being jobless and denied medical care, even if stricken with a life-threatening illness. Hardest hit are 600,000 of the 1.26 million unemployed who are on their own, even if they have cancer. The bright light in this catastrophe is that doctors, nurses and other health care professionals are volunteering their services to provide free medical care for the uninsured. Greece had a system of universal health care, like most of Europe. It was funded by employers, workers and the government. The jobless had limitless coverage. When the Greek government looked like it might default on loans, European banks offered new loans to rescue their old loans. But the banks demanded a ransom: higher interest rates and huge cutbacks in social programs, especially health care. The ruthless Troika the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund stipulated that loans would require draconian austerity measures. The capitalist Greek government, eager for the bailout, agreed to the terms and in July 2011 signed the deal. It cruelly cut from health coverage those who were jobless for more than one year. These workers, considered no longer essential to the economy, had to pay for their own health care. Since austerity was imposed, public health care spending has been cut by 25 percent or $12 billion. Doctors and nurses salaries have been reduced by onethird. Hospitals lack funds to purchase adequate medications and equipment. The largest hospitals budget $371 million in 2011 was reduced to $176 million this year. Health care is in crisis. The rich are obtaining it, mainly with cash. However, many people who had paid for private care earlier cant afford it now. Government-run hospitals cant meet the need. With the capitalist crisis continuing, each day 1,000 Greek workers lose their jobs. One-fourth of workers are unemployed; 54 percent of young people dont have jobs. Yet, on Oct. 24, the Greek government agreed to a new austerity package totalling $17.5 billion in budget cuts and tax hikes in exchange for more international loans. Athens officials have proposed a shocking $2 billion further decrease in health spending to obtain more financing, which will undoubtedly exacerbate the health care crisis facing the Greek people. Volunteer clinics peoples resistance In addition to the uninsured unemployed workers, those who owe the government money for taxes or a mere parking ticket are being denied treatment. Hundreds of thousands are seeking out free clinics, some set up by charities or medical professionals. Dr. Kostas Syrigos, a leading oncologist who treats uninsured cancer patients at a free after-hours clinic at his Athens hospital, explains, In Greece right now, to be unemployed means death. Because cancer treatment is so costly, he says, when the uninsured are diagnosed with this disease, the system simply ignores the uninsured: They cant access chemotherapy, surgery or even simple drugs. (New York Times, Oct. 25) The same Times article told of Elena, who left her teaching job to care for cancer-stricken parents, then remained jobless due to the economic crisis. Her own breast cancer was untreated for a year due to the expense, and she arrived at the clinic with a late-stage tumor. Syrigos said, We are moving to the same situation that the United States has been in, where you lose your job and you are uninsured, you arent covered. In the U.S., 49 million people lack health insurance, including many unemployed workers. A Harvard University study showed that this lack of coverage costs 45,000 lives annually. Greek cardiologist Dr. Giorgos Vichas and other doctors established an underground network to assist the poor who are seriously ill. Staff members donate their time after their regular job shifts. They use donated medications, but have nowhere near enough to meet the need. Medication costs, especially for cancer, are exorbitant. Hospitals and pharmacies are demanding cash for these drugs, putting them out of reach for many. At the Metropolitan Social Clinic, outside Athens, Vichas explained: Were a Robin Hood network. People at some point will no longer be able to donate because of the crisis, which is why theyre pressuring the state to take responsibility again. What weve gained from the crisis is to come closer together, he said. This is resistance. (Times, Oct. 25)

workers.org

Nov. 8, 2012

Page 9

European workers prepare for day of action

By Chris Fry Five years ago the world banking system, the foundation of the imperialist social and economic system, fractured. Huge financial institutions sank into bankruptcy as each found that its speculations (they call them investments), which seemed so safe and secure, so insured by other huge banking houses, suddenly crumbled like a falling house of cards. From small countries like Iceland and Ireland to huge centers like the United States, the billionaires demanded that each country empty its coffers of their peoples accumulated wealth and transfer it over to fill the banks vaults. Of course, they didnt consult the workers in these countries. The rulers generated an air of panic. They told the workers, who are the producers of all this wealth, that this was all necessary to prevent a complete breakdown of social and economic order. Millions were thrown out of work. Millions lost their homes to foreclosures, from Detroit to Lisbon to Athens to Marseilles to Dublin to Las Vegas to the mining towns of South Africa. All sent the same message to the workers accept this! But this bankers robbery did not stem the fears of the billionaire class. Yes, they have hoarded the vast wealth they have appropriated. But because of the vast armies of low-paid workers from Asia, Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe and elsewhere now available for exploitation, because of the breathtaking development of computer technology, the giant corporations cannot sell the huge quantity of goods and services now produced at the rate of profit theyre used to. Overproduction has mired the worldwide capitalist system in its deepest crisis, and it is only getting deeper. What to do? In Europe, austerity has become the bankers and their governments catchword, their slogan, their mantra. Hard-won gains like public health care, social security, pensions, health and safety controls, education, environmental controls all are on the chopping block. They look to break every pledge, every promise, every contract with the workers, in order to stop the drain of wealth to those who produce it. But around the world, and particularly in Europe, workers are uniting and building a stronger and stronger resistance movement to the banker governments austerity measures. From Greece to Portugal, from Spain to Italy, millions have flocked to the streets to fight back. Labor organizations and workers parties are pointing to Nov. 14 as a day of Continental general strikes, demonstrations, and other forms of struggle against the harsh austerity measures being imposed.

150,000 in Rome protest austerity

By John Gilbert Rome Some 150,000 people marched through the rainy streets of Rome on Oct. 27 for a national No Monti Day demonstration against Italian Premier Mario Monti and his right-wing, neoliberalist government. The marchers protested against social cuts, the cancellation of workers rights and the imposition of austerity sacrifices on the working class to implement European pro-big-business and banker diktats out of Brussels. A broad coalition of leftist organizations organized the demonstration. Among them were the Communist Refoundation Party, the Federation of the Left, several small trade unions further left than the larger CGIL union, unemployed/temporary workers and students collectives, delegations of workers from factories in crisis around the country, the leftist-occupied social centers, housing rights activists, environmental groups, the national No Debt Committee and smaller left-wing groups like the Communist Workers Party. Associations of people with disabilities opened the march in support of over 50 disabled activists who have been on a hunger strike for several days.

We stand with the Europe that is rebelling. Lets throw out the Monti government.

PHOTO: RIFONDAZIONE

The afternoon march was led by the united banner: We stand with the Europe that is rebelling; Lets throw out the Monti government. After the march crossed the historic center of Rome to Piazza San Giovanni for a final rally, more than a thousand students and leftist youths continued to march to expressway ramps, where they blocked traffic into and around Rome. The youths opened a

banner that read: If they block our future, well block the city. The European Trade Union Confederation has called for a Europe-wide Day of Union Struggle on Nov. 14 against conservative anti-worker policies across Europe. So far, union federations have called general strikes that day in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Malta. In Italy, only the small leftist unions

have called for joining the strike so far. The 6-million-member leftist union CGIL, Italys largest union, is at the moment trying to convince the two smaller centrist unions, CISL and UIL, to call a united strike for Nov. 14. The CGIL has itself called a 4-hour general strike for Nov. 14. Gilbert is secretary of the FLC-CGIL union at the University of Florence.

Ford shuts Belgium plant, workers party protests

Following is a statement from the Workers Party of Belgium (PTB). Today, Wednesday, Oct. 24, the hard news arrived: The Ford factory in Genk closes shop, and 4,300 jobs at Ford will be eliminated, while another 6,000 jobs will disappear indirectly. The municipality of Genk is located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the midst of a region that was already devastated with the closure of the coal mines some 20 years ago. At the beginning of 2010, Opel announced the end of its production in its Antwerp plant, resulting in the loss of 2,600 jobs. Four months ago, there was the closure of the PSA (Peugeot-Citron) factory in Aulnay, France, and the elimination of 8,000 jobs. Everywhere, the difficult situation of the European automobile industry is invoked as the reason: too many plants for too small a demand and too high losses. But the Workers Party of Belgium demands: Why do the workers have to pay for this overcapacity? They are not responsible for this crisis. They are not responsible for the anarchy of capitalist production, based on the search for profit for the few rather than on the satisfaction of the peoples needs. For the Limburg chairman of the PTB, Stany Nimmegeers, the situation is clear: For years on end now, the workers have made sacrifices of all sorts, supposedly in order to assure the plants future. In the latest collective bargaining agreement of 2010, they even lost 12 percent of their salary. It has been 50 years now that the workers of Genk have produced cars of a very high quality, resulting in enormous profits for the shareholders. In 2011, Ford realized a record worldwide profit of 8 billion euro. Just like PSA and Opel, Ford wants to make the workers bear the brunt of the crisis. Since a consequence of this is a further decrease in their purchasing power and thus less consumption, there is even more overcapacity in the long run. Overcapacity is not a law of nature, but the result of disastrous economic policies. Stany Nimmegeers recounts that the Antwerp plant of Opel had been sold and that the management had refused to allow for a genuine restart of the factory. In 50 years time, Ford has received such an amount of state subsidies, paid with the Belgian taxpayers money, and Ford has made such an amount of profit with the sweat of the Limburg workers, that this plant in fact belongs to the workers. The public authorities need to seize the plant. The PTB has just reinforced its presence in Genk, obtaining 8.6 percent of the vote and three councilors at the recently concluded municipal elections. With all its force, the party will support the actions of the trade unions at Ford Genk, starting with a 24-hour strike in the only Ford unit in Limburg that currently remains in function.

Rain, shine or global warming break the media stranglehold! Support Workers World
If Workers World is essential to your political life if youve come to rely on the paper then please take the next step and support us nancially. For the past 35 years weve asked our readers to forge a special relationship with the paper by joining the Workers World Supporter Program. There are several ways you can participate in the Workers World Supporter Program. Members who contribute $75 a year receive a years subscription to the newspaper, a monthly letter with new publications, petitions and brochures and ve free trial subscriptions to give to friends. For $100 you also get a book published by World View Forum. And for $300 or more (as little as $25 a month) you also get your choice of ve books or Peoples Video Network videos.

I enclose: n $75 (supporter) n $100 (sponsor)

n $300 (sustainer) $_____ other. I enclose every month: n $6 (supporter) n $10 (sponsor) n $25 (sustainer) $ ___ other. n How can I include Workers World in my will?
To join the Supporter program Send you name, address, email and phone number with your check made out to Workers World to WWP, 55 W. 17th St., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10011.

Page 10

Nov. 8, 2012

workers.org

editorial

Mumia Abu-Jamal on

Will superstorm break the silence

ruling class of the U.S. They have spent untold millions to finance anti-scientific lobbyists, fund politicians who will vote against any attempt to make the polluters fix the problem or pay the bills, and find corrupt scientists who will swear that all the findings of their tens of thousands of colleagues around the world are false. The U.S. government has gone to international environmental conferences year after year and used its financial and political power to block any global consensus that would bind the giant transnational corporations to concrete steps to significantly reduce carbon emissions. The acute crisis caused by the dramatic wind and tidal events of Hurricane Sandy in the U.S. is only an intense manifestation of a much more widespread and gradually developing environmental crisis that is global in character. The same temperature rises that led to Sandy are melting glaciers and ice caps, raising the ocean levels and endangering island and coastal civilizations as well as inland rivers. This, in turn, is part of an even more widespread process of environmental devastation poisoning the land, water and air caused by mining conglomerates, logging companies, agribusiness, oil corporations and so on which are depleting or poisoning the aquifers, promoting the desertification of vast stretches of the earths territories, destroying the rain forests which are the lungs of the earth, and much more. Wall Street suffered directly as a result of Hurricane Sandy. And capitalist interests have also suffered losses from the dislocation caused by the storm. This may cause a lot of hand wringing and reevaluation by the bosses themselves. But dont count on them to combat climate change. There is too much profit involved. To paraphrase a citation by Karl Marx, for a sufficient profit a capitalist will even risk death. Most impacted by these environmental predators are the masses of people, the workers and peasants, the poor and oppressed of the world. As one commentator said, referring to Sandy: We are having a once-in-a-hundred-year storm every two years now. The only way to reduce events like Hurricanes Sandy, Irene and Katrina is Capitalism at a DEAD for the workers to take the book is that the economicEND means of polhe thesis of this crisis, which lution away from the began in August 2007, is more thanthe in polluters.marked a turning point the history of capitalism. This But just another severe capitalist crisis. The author contends that the not means of pollutionsystem will not bounce back; it willcycle.return to the are actually the means normal capitalist boom-and-bust For decades the capitalist class has used the revolution in digital technology to increase It will of production under capitalism.productivity of labor at record rates. Fewer and fewer workers are needed to produce more and more goods and take the destruction at lower and lower wages. services in less and less of the profit system time Goldstein uses Marxs laws of capitalist accumulation and the declining rate of profit can global capitalshow why itself to chart a new course thattopoint. Over save ism has finally reached a tipping two-and-a-half years into the recovery of big business and the the environment by restructuring pro-banks, millions of workers are dropping out of the work force; social services are being cut in order to pay the banks; public education is being needs rather the new duction to serve the peoples gutted;shut out ofgeneration of workers and students are being the job market or forced into than capitalists profit youthlow-wage jobs; and African-American andat Latino/a greed.criminalized and incarcerated are being
T

The politics of style

Taken from an Oct. 14 audio column at prisonradio.org. It is a bit of a struggle to look at debates these days. Ive seen plenty of em over the years. So many that they seem to run together. Promises. More promises. Lies. When all is said and done, debates are exercises in PR (public relations), and mass manipulation. They are tools of politicians used to create images of themselves. For the politician isnt really the ruling class; to the rich and super rich, they are servants. There was a time when the American middle class was a protected class, kept out of the raging storms of capital abroad. We dont live in that world anymore, thanks to the globalization system. The U.S. middle class, with their wage and pension advantages, is now superfluous. For the global class no longer needs a middle class; they need nothing to interfere with their profits. Thats where we are. And no answer in any debate will change that, especially if NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) isnt even mentioned.

fter ravaging much of the Caribbean, Hurricane Sandy has hit the United States. As of this writing, more than 8 million people here are without power, 38 are reported dead and still counting, and the damage is reckoned at many tens of billions of dollars. No numbers have been put on personal losses of the masses of people in terms of their homes, cars, household possessions, let alone irreplaceable personal items of precious, sentimental value. As bad as this storm has been, its devastation would have been immeasurably worse had it not been for the extraordinary accomplishments of modern meteorological science, which was able to warn public authorities and people about the timing, the path, the intensity and breadth of the storm with a remarkable degree of accuracy. It is, however, a major contradiction that while the warnings of meteorological science about this extreme weather event saturated the media, not a word was said about the warnings made by climate scientists. Their voices, which grow ever more desperate, have been under attack by an array of the most powerful corporate polluters in the world. This seeming contradiction can only be explained by the profit motive. On the one hand, meteorological science is needed by agribusiness, shipping, maritime, airlines, off-shore oil drillers, power companies, insurance companies, the commodities markets, the tourist industry, and numerous other capitalist interests. All these parties need to know about the weather in order to maximize their profits and minimize their losses. This list should include the Pentagon, which has a strong military interest in climate prediction. On the other hand, the vast majority of climate scientists around the world concur and have proven that climate change is produced by global warming, which in turn is caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The result is increasingly extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy. Thus to deny the findings of climate science is in the interests of the oil and gas companies, the coal industry, the power-generating businesses, and other giant industrial polluters who profit from processes that spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. They refuse to take measures to curb these emissions because that would eat into their profits. Thus, both the advancement of meteorological science and the denial of climate science can be traced directly to the biggest and most powerful capitalists. This illuminates the complete irrationality of the capitalist system. In fact, the terms climate change and global warming have been virtually banned from corporate mass media news broadcasts. During the threemonth drought in the Midwest this summer, which damaged three quarters of the U.S. corn and grain crop, report after report on this drastic situation failed to mention climate change or global warming. The same is true of the round-theclock coverage of Hurricane Sandy. Such is the power of the giant polluters, who actually include most of the

HAITI

Clintons preside over inauguration of misery

By G. Dunkel In a ceremony reeking of historic colonialism, designed to firmly seal Haitis status as a U.S. neocolony, former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presided over the Oct. 22 inauguration of the new Sae-A Trading Co. factory in Caracol, Haiti. Sae-A has its headquarters in Korea and is in the process of moving its production from Guatemala and Nicaragua because labor is cheaper in Haiti. Its main customers are Walmart and the Gap. Caracol is on the coast in the northeastern part of Haiti, about 100 miles from Port-au-Prince and 13 miles from CapHaitien, Haitis second-largest city. The land seized for the plant had previously supported 400 farm families. The photo that the U.S. Agency for International Development is distributing shows the Clintons standing under a sign saying in English, A New Day for Haiti. They are surrounded by a few hundred Haitian workers, almost all women dressed in their new uniforms. Haitis language is not English, however. It is Creole. USAID put $124 million into this facility, its biggest investment since the devastating earthquake two years ago. Daniel Cho, a representative of Sae-A in Haiti, told the Associated Press that the employees will be paid almost $5 for eight hours of work, which means that they would need two days wages to buy one of the cheapest T-shirts that they make for Walmarts. The minimum wage in Haiti was supposed to be raised to $7 a day on Oct. 1, but under pressure from the U.S. State Department (according to Wikileaks) and garment contractors, most textile companies in Haiti are paying the old $5-a-day rate. According to Hati-Libert (Oct. 24), the peoples organizations in northern Haiti see the inauguration of the Caracol industrial park as the inauguration of misery, as the new colonialist justifying their presence by inaugurating Caracol as a source of exploitation of and misery for Haitian labor and a means to support Martelly. Michel Martelly is the current president of Haiti. He was imposed by the U.S. and is facing mounting political and popular opposition.

Capitalism at a Dead End Capitalism at a Dead End

Fred Goldstein Fred Goldstein

record rates by systematic racism and racial profiling. The author demonstrates how capitalism is not only wrecking the environment but has outgrown the planet. This will inevitably provoke a resurgence of working-class struggle of the type not seen since the 1930s, only this time directed against the system itself. WORLD VIEW FORUM

$15.95

55 W. 17th St., #5C New York, NY 10011

LowWageCapitalism.com
Fred.Goldstein@Workers.org

WV

CADE_cove-cr.indd 1

ISBN-13 EAN Adjusted 978 Encoded: 9780895671752 51595 BWR: 0.0000 inches 0.00 mils W/N Ratio: 2.00 Bar Height: 0.9390 inches Magnification: 99.94% x-dim: 0.0130 inches N Bar Width: 0.0130 inches Printer dpi: 2540 Film: Positive/Up Company: PARCODE SYMBOLOGY Client: SARA FLOUNDERS Job: 71157 Date: 02/16/12

9/20/2012 3:33:32 PM

Job destruction, overproduction and crisis in the High-tech era

Capitalism at a Dead End

Low-Wage Capitalism High Tech, Low Pay

What the new globalized high-tech imperialism means for the class struggle in the U.S. A Marxist Analysis of the Changing Character of the Working Class

LowWageCapitalism.com
Books are available at Amazon and other bookstores.

workers.org

Nov. 8, 2012

Page 11

LIBYA

U.S. backs Bani Walids destruction

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire Despite reports that chemical weapons were used against the civilian population of Bani Walid in Libya, the U.S. State Department is supporting its surrogates takeover of the western hilltop city. Militias from Misrata, known for their brutality and racism, have held Bani Walid, a stronghold of loyalists allied with Col. Moammar Gadhafis government, under siege for a month. The militias have committed gross violations of international law and human rights in Bani Walid. After claiming victory in this city of 70,000 to 100,000 people, the U.S.-backed General National Congress regime in Tripoli, the capital, first said residents could return and then prevented them from doing so. Reports indicate that the militia forces used high-powered missile launchers, some of which were laced with nerve gas and white phosphorous. A blockade of several weeks followed by bombardments forced at least 25,000 residents out of the city. Mohammad Al-Hrari,of the Libyan Relief Agency, noted: After what happened in Bani Walid, you can say almost all of the population fled. (Gulf News, Oct. 29) GNC regime officials admit there is no water or electricity in the city. On Oct. 28, army pickup trucks equipped with heavy weapons continued the blockade of the northern entrance to the town. International journalists have largely been denied entrance into the city. Most media reports come from Bani Walid residents themselves. Militias seek to destroy Bani Walid After the militias entered the city on Oct. 24, their fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades into homes and buildings, bulldozed houses and arrested hundreds of people. The militia fighters shouted, Today Bani Walid is finished. One added, The Gadhafi fighters are out of Bani Walid, they have gone. Some people here still wanted Gadhafi, we have to show them that he is finished. (Reuters, Oct. 27) Russia Today satellite television showed one local woman saying, Bani Walid was invaded by militias from Misrata. They destroyed everything, brought chaos, death and destruction with them. When families wanted to return to their homes, these militias directed their guns towards them, shot at them, and they were forced to flee. (Oct. 26) Afaf Yusef, a resident of Bani Walid, said she could confirm that pro-government militias used internationally prohibited weapons. They used phosphorus bombs and nerve gas. Yusef continued, We have documented all this in videos we recorded the missiles they used and the white phosphorus raining down from these missiles. The whole world needs to see who they are targeting. Are they really Gadhafis men? Are the children, women and old men killed, Gadhafis men? The residents of Bani Walid have appealed to the United Nations and other international bodies for assistance but to no avail. The U.S. Mission to the U.N. blocked the Russian governments attempt to introduce a resolution in the Security Council calling for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, indicating that the White House is behind the siege. Yusef bemoaned, Our city is dying. The situation is very difficult. The city is almost completely destroyed. Residents are buried in the rubble. (rt.com, Oct. 28) Some sources claim that a majority of the militia fighters have dual citizenships and passports from other nations. U.S. imperialism leaves trail of death The current situation in Bani Walid and throughout Libya is the direct result of the intervention of the Pentagon, the CIA and NATO during 2011. For 10 months last year, rebels and their backers in the West laid waste to the country and the state, with NATOs armed forces carrying out 9,600 air strikes, a naval blockade, the dislocation of 2 million people and the seizure of national assets, leaving Libya in a deplorable condition. Nonetheless, this failed to subdue the entire population. Thus the reactionaries are carrying out the destruction of Bani Walid through blockades, the use of chemical warfare and large-scale displacements. While they bring up tactical questions involving the defense of U.S. representatives in Benghazi, both U.S. presidential candidates have failed to debate the underlying causes of the instability in Libya. The war against Libya is a war for oil and geopolitical control which is extending to other areas throughout the region. At present the imperialists are preparing for a major intervention in the West African state of Mali. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Algeria on Oct. 29 in an effort to coordinate the coming invasion of Mali. Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci had said in an Oct. 19 interview, There is a Malian institutional crisis. The Algerians are ready to help. (New York Times, Oct. 29) Such interventions involving the imperialists will not stabilize the political situation in North and West Africa. It will ultimately be up to the African people themselves to resolve the internal problems within their countries. These problems cannot be separated from the overall role and impact of imperialism on the entire continent.

Sudanese in Khartoum protest Israeli bombing raid

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire Sudanese citizens staged protests in the capital Khartoum following the Oct. 24 Israeli Air Force bombing of the Yarmouk weapons factory. Last May, Israel launched a missile attack on an automobile plant in Port Sudan. Similar attacks occurred in April 2011, killing two people, and in January 2009 in the eastern region of the oil-rich central African country. In August 1998, the U.S. bombed a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan. Then-President Bill Clinton ordered this military action with the pretext that the facility was used to produce chemical weapons without ever producing evidence that it did. Sudanese Ambassador to the United Nations Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman characterized the recent air strikes as a blatant violation of the U.N. Charter and called for the international body to condemn the state of Israel. The demonstrations in Khartoum on Oct. 25 accused both Israel and the United States of being culpable in the attacks. (Press TV, Oct. 25) The Satellite Sentinel Project, through a comparative analysis of Digital Globe imagery, says the photos show six large craters, each approximately 16 meters across and consistent with impact craters created by air-delivered munitions, centered in a location where, until recently, some 40 shipping containers had been stacked. (Reuters, Oct. 27) A huge fire erupted at the factory, which took firefighters more than two hours to extinguish. On Oct. 25, Israeli intelligence officials admitted that the military has been carrying out missions inside Sudan for several years. Israel accuses the Sudanese government of supplying weapons to the Hamas liberation organization in Palestines Gaza Strip. Another Israeli defense official, Amos Gilad, seemed to justify the air strikes by accusing Sudan of being a dangerous terrorist state that supplies Iranian weapons to Hamas. (france24.com, Oct. 25) Despite the Oct. 24 bombing, Sudans ruling National Congress Party pledges that it will continue its support of the Palestinian people. Sudan has been under threat by imperialism for many years. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for President Omar al-Bashir and other leading government officials for actions they have taken to defend Sudans territorial sovereignty, which was threatened by rebels operating in the western Darfur region. Several of the rebel organizations are supported by Israel and the U.S. The country, which was Africas largest geographic nation-state until it was partitioned in 2011, is an emerging oilproducing country. The failure of South Sudans independence process resulted, earlier this year, in the eruption of fighting along its border with the Republic of Sudan in the North. A mediation process carried out by the African Union has achieved an agreement between the North and the South to reopen oil drilling and shipments between the two states. Nonetheless, many outstanding issues remain. Racist anti-Sudan demonstrations in Tel Aviv Meanwhile, inside the Israeli state, a campaign directed against African immigrants, many of whom are from South Sudan, has continued. Several months ago, racist mobs attacked African immigrants and their homes and businesses. Rightist Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahus regime has derisively labeled African migrants infiltrators. The Israeli government has ordered thousands of Africans detained and deported while commissioning the building of a large prison for the sole purpose of incarcerating them pending expulsion. On Oct. 28, at least 150 Israeli residents of Tel Avivs Hatikva neighborhood marched to a government compound carrying a coffin with the names of various subdivisions written on it. During the march Israelis chanted racist slogans such as Sudanese go back to Sudan. (Ynetnews.com) During the action, marchers taunted an African worker outside a local restaurant, and several participants attempted to shatter the windows of the business. The worker had to go inside the restaurant for safety. Israeli settlers blame African immigrants for destroying their neighborhoods and causing street crime. The demonstrators called for the African migrants to be relocated to the prime ministers residence in Jerusalems Caesarea and Rehavia neighborhoods. In the same report, some of the marchers openly admitted their racism, saying they were proud of it. Tel Aviv Council Member Shlomo Maslawi said there were 60,000-70,000 infiltrators already present, thus inciting more potential racist attacks.

Editied by Joyce Chediac

A book of articles from WW, edited by Joyce Chediac Gazans withstood blockade and bombardment to stand tall, refusing to give up the right to determine their lives and choose their government; how Gazas courage inspired a solidarity movement determined to break the blockade and deliver aid; exposes the forces behind the punishment of Gaza, and how the peoples media is breaking the mainstream medias blockade. gazaresistancebook.com

GAZA: Symbol of Resistance

WAR

WAR WITHOUT VICTORY

THE PENTAGONS ACHILLES HEEL *
Michael Parenti, author of The Face of Imperialism

War WITHOUT VICTOrY

WITHOUT VICTORY
The U.S. military machine can destroy the world but it is not allpowerful. The Pentagon has enormous destructive capacity but its Achilles heel lies within the contradictions of the capitalist system that created this monstrosity. The U.S. military budget is larger than that of the rest of the world combined. But handouts to the military-industrial complex and conquests can no longer overcome capitalist overproduction.
These selected essays, written as events unfolded, cover a variety of subjects including: The Pentagons inability to accomplish its aims despite trillions of dollars spent in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Sara Flounders exposes the deceptions, foul methods, and exploitative goals of U.S. imperialism and militarism."

by Sara Flounders By revealing the underbelly of the empire, Flounders sheds insight on how to stand up to the imperialist war machine and, in so doing, save ourselves and humanity.
The terrifying U.S. weapons that create more organized resistance than fear and submission. Plans to transfer social funds Social Security and Medicare to bail out banks and fund war. The need to oppose all U.S. wars and expose Miguel dEscoto Brockmann, Washingtons lies. The danger that as the U.S. loses its grip, imperialism mad adventure past Pres. of U.N.may risk all in aon Iran and Syriatorecoup its threatposition. Gen. Assembly, 2008-2009, Pentagon wars a greater now due to of Nicaraguas Sandinista gov. Foreign Min. U.S. setbacks in Western and Central Asia. Opposition to the 1% by building solidarity $15.95 1979-1990 with all oppressed peoples and groups.

Sara Flounders

pentagonachillesheel.com
*Achilles Heel: A fatal vulnerability in spite of great strength.

Books are available on amazon.com and other bookstores

World View Forum workers.org pentagonachillesheel.com

WV
A revolutionary perspective by a veteran anti-war organizer

war_without_victory_cover.indd 1

8/9/2012 1:29:54 PM

Proletarios y oprimidos de todos los paises unios!

Correspondencia sobre artculos en Workers World/Mundo Obrero pueden ser enviadas a: WW-MundoObrero@workers.org

Comienzan negociaciones sobre la paz de Colombia

Por Berta Joubert-Ceci
os ojos del mundo estaban fijos en las pantallas de TV. TeleSUR y la BBC en espaol transmitieron en vivo la Conferencia de prensa de casi tres horas de duracin de los representantes de las FARC-EP y el Gobierno colombiano el 18 de octubre, al final del comienzo de las Negociaciones de Paz en Oslo, Noruega. Todos/as en Amrica Latina tienen importantes intereses en juego con estas conversaciones debido a que Washington utiliza a Colombia para amenazar a los pases vecinos que persiguen un desarrollo independiente del imperialismo norteamericano. Colombia es conocida por los pueblos de la regin como la Israel de Latinoamrica. Para el pueblo colombiano, sus vidas y su futuro estn en juego. Colombia no ha conocido paz por ms de 60 aos. En 1946, la oligarqua junto al Estado abri una violenta represin contra el movimiento por la justicia social y econmica. El lder de este movimiento, Jorge Eliecer Gaitn, fue asesinado en abril de 1948. Su muerte marc el inicio de La Violencia, un periodo que ha durado hasta hoy. Aunque las FARC-EP nacieron en 1964, sus races histricas se basan en la respuesta a esta tremenda violencia que cobr la vida de ms de 300.000 colombianos/as.

La Conferencia de prensa Una conferencia de prensa de las FARCEP a principios de septiembre en Cuba anunci las negociaciones, que se centraran en cinco puntos principales acordados por ambas partes: poltica de desarrollo agrario integral; participacin poltica; fin del con-

flicto; una solucin al problema de las drogas ilcitas; y las vctimas (derechos humanos y bsqueda de la verdad). Esa conferencia concluy la primera de las tres fases de las negociaciones. La primera fue la exploratoria, en la que representantes de ambas partes mantuvieron conversaciones durante seis meses en Cuba. Esto llev a la segunda fase, que comenzara con la instauracin de la mesa de negociaciones en Oslo y se continuara en la Habana, Cuba. En este ltimo pas tambin se dar la tercera y ltima fase, con la firma y la aplicacin del acuerdo. Inicialmente prevista para el 8 de octubre, el comienzo de la segunda fase tuvo que ser aplazada debido a problemas de salud del Presidente colombiano y ms importante an, para asegurar que la Interpol cancelara las rdenes de captura contra los/as representantes de las FARC quienes tendran que viajar desde las montaas de Colombia hasta Oslo. En Oslo, ambas partes iniciaron la Conferencia mediante la lectura de una declaracin conjunta, seguida por sus propias declaraciones. Luego, los/as muchos/as reporteros/ as internacionales asistentes presentaran sus preguntas. Estas sesiones se celebraron por separado despus de pausas cortas. Primero respondera un portavoz del gobierno de Colombia, Humberto de la Calle, quien fue vicepresidente (1994-1997) bajo el entonces presidente Ernesto Samper. Cuando de la Calle fue el ministro del interior bajo el presidente Csar Gaviria, l particip en las fallidas negociaciones de paz de 1991. En su artculo en Kaos en la Red, Alex Vernot cita a lvaro Leiva, un poltico del

Partido Conservador que ha participado en muchas negociaciones. Leiva dijo acerca de De la Calle que su misin fue ir a Caracas [donde tendra lugar una parte de las conversaciones del 1991] a daar los dilogos. La declaracin de De la Calle durante la Conferencia de Oslo dej atisbar las extremas dificultades de este proceso. Mostr la intransigencia y los objetivos de un Gobierno que no est interesado en la paz para el pueblo colombiano, sino en una pacificacin a beneficio de las empresas nacionales y transnacionales. El comentario de De la Calle sobre el desarme de las FARC como condicin para su participacin en la vida poltica algo que ni siquiera forma parte del acuerdo de cinco puntos mostr claramente la intransigencia del Gobierno. l tambin dijo que los acuerdos de libre comercio y la economa, otros puntos cruciales, no eran parte de las discusiones. En resumidas cuentas, elimin los elementos ms bsicos de las negociaciones, ya que el primer punto es la poltica de desarrollo agrario integral, que por necesidad, tendr que incluir la economa y tomar en consideracin que un 52 por ciento de las tierras de Colombia est controlado por slo el uno por ciento de su poblacin. Ivn Mrquez, de la Secretara de las FARC, abri con una declaracin que refleja el profundo deseo de paz del grupo insurgente: Hemos venido hasta este paralelo 60, hasta esta ciudad de Oslo desde el trpico remoto, desde el Macondo de la injusticia, el tercer pas ms desigual del mundo, con un sueo colectivo de paz, con un ramo de olivo en las manos.

Luego dio un magnfico relato del origen del conflicto armado. Vale la pena leer esto en su totalidad en http://www.anncol. eu ya que ilustra la inmensa desigualdad en Colombia con datos y cifras que demuestran, con certidumbre incontestable, la usurpacin criminal de tierras y la riqueza por los oligarcas y las empresas transnacionales, dejando al 70 por ciento de la poblacin en la pobreza. l habl de la violencia y la represin del Estado, junto con el papel de las corporaciones y los militares de Estados Unidos. Mrquez termin con la demanda de las FARC de incluir a Simn Trinidad, un lder de las FARC actualmente cumpliendo una condena de 60 aos en una prisin estadounidense, como parte de los/as representantes en las negociaciones. La Fiscala colombiana ya ha aceptado la demanda y har los arreglos tecnolgicos pertinentes para facilitar la aparicin virtual de Trinidad en las negociaciones. Las FARC, sin embargo, quieren su presencia fsica y piden a la comunidad internacional y particularmente a las fuerzas progresistas en los Estados Unidos a que ayuden a presionar al Gobierno de Estados Unidos para que Trinidad se pueda unir a ellos/as en Cuba. Las FARC tambin invitaron a la comunidad internacional para que les acompaen en este proceso e hizo un llamado especial a los movimientos sociales en Colombia para sean participantes activos en el proceso. A juzgar por los recientes acontecimientos en Colombia, esta ltima peticin se est realizando en muchos niveles. La prxima reunin de ambas partes ser en Cuba el 5 de noviembre.

No es acto de caridad
Impulsada por la financiacin de capitalistas racistas y de extrema derecha, est arrasando por todo Estados Unidos una campaa para restringir y negar el derecho a votar a los/as afroamericanos, latinos/as, y otras comunidades pobres y oprimidas. Hasta dnde llegar? Apenas tres semanas antes de las elecciones, comenzaron a aparecer en las principales ciudades de Wisconsin y Ohio, carteleras diciendo: El fraude electoral es un delito grave hasta 3-1/2 aos y $10.000 de multa. Los carteles todos publicados en barrios con altas poblaciones afroamericanas son un intento directo para intimidar a los/as votantes tratando de convencer a la gente que la votacin es una actividad riesgosa. La cuestin del derecho a votar para los/ as afroamericanos se remonta al perodo posterior a la Guerra Civil de Estados Unidos conocido como la Era de la Reconstruccin. Desde el 1866 hasta 1876, la gente anteriormente esclavizada en el sur, con proteccin armada de las tropas federales del Norte, lucharon por la igualdad al mismo nivel que los blancos, especialmente en las reas de representacin poltica, educacin y posesin de tierra. Este perodo profundamente progresista se trunc violentamente con la retirada de las tropas, lo que dio origen al Ku Klux Klan, un grupo terrorista que favoreca a los estados sureos (Confederacin) derrotados en la guerra, a condiciones de semi-esclavitud y eventualmente, a una segregacin profundamente arraigada. Muchas personas en estas comunidades recuerdan cuando el desafo a las leyes de Jim Crow y otras restricciones a los/ as votantes negros/as en el Sur resultaban en multas, encarcelamientos, violencia e incluso, en muerte. La Ley de Derechos Electorales de 1965 que fue ganada a travs del movimiento de Derechos Civiles, ha sido severamente debilitada durante dcadas, como tantas otras concesiones progresistas. Con las polticas de detener y cachear puestas en vigor en muchas reas urbanas, el solo caminar-mientras-se es-negro/a puede resultar en acoso policial, arrestos o en algo peor. En todos menos dos estados, ms de 4,4 millones personas que anteriormente estaban encarceladas, son etiquetadas como criminales y les est permanentemente negado el derecho a votar. A pesar de una decisin de la corte estatal de limitar la implementacin de la represiva ley de identificacin del votante en Pensilvania, el estado sigue produciendo informacin a travs de la radio y anuncios de televisin, carteles en autobuses y propaganda que es enviada a miles de personas mayores en un programa de medicamentos recetados, que un carnet de identidad es necesario para votar. En un barrio predominantemente latino en el norte de Filadelfia, un cartel representando a una mujer que sostiene una licencia de conducir todava dice, Si quieres votar, mustrala. Para agregar ms a la confusin, la empresa de energa de Filadelfia, PECO, envi a 840.000 clientes un anuncio en sus facturas de octubre que dice que la gente debe tener identificacin vlida con fotografa para votar. Las manos de los capitalistas estadounidenses se pueden encontrar en todas estas campaas. Todos los anuncios de carteleras en el medio oeste fueron publicados por el monopolio de medios de comunicacin Clear Channel, el cual dice que una fundacin familiar annima pag por casi 150 anuncios de fraude electoral amenazantes. Las carteleras siguen una campaa promovida por el derechista Consejo Americano de Intercambio Legislativo, ALEC por sus siglas en ingls, financiado por corporaciones, para pasar leyes en ms de 34 estados para restringir el voto al exigir una identificacin con foto u otra prueba de ciudadana. Muy poco esfuerzo se ha hecho para ocultar el racismo que motiva esta campaa. Entre los asociados principales de ALEC estn David y Charles Koch, quienes son tambin la fuerza mayor detrs de los esfuerzos recientes para re segregar las escuelas pblicas de Carolina de Norte. Su padre, Fred Koch, fundador de las Industrias Koch, una de las ms grandes corporaciones privadas en los Estados Unidos, gan notoriedad en la dcada de los 50 como miembro fundador del John Birch Society, una organizacin neonazi y oponente principal de la integracin racial. El intento de hoy en da de privar a millones de votantes de sus derechos civiles est motivado en gran parte por racistas como los hermanos Koch que parecen decididos a asegurar que el primer Presidente negro de los Estados Unidos no vea un segundo mandato. Pero la cuestin es ms profunda que eso. La clase dominante capitalista en los EE.UU. tiene toda la intencin de aplicar el tipo de medidas severas de austeridad ya impuestas a los/as trabajadores/as en muchos pases europeos, independientemente de quin gane las elecciones presidenciales del 2012. En las comunidades oprimidas, donde la polica ya es una fuerza de ocupacin, disuadir a las personas de ejercer su derecho al voto es otra forma de suprimir la oposicin. Lo que nunca se debe olvidar es que el fundamental derecho a votar no fue regalado por la clase capitalista. Fue ganado a travs de dcadas de lucha. Por lo tanto, la defensa del derecho a votar no debe ser considerado como un acto de caridad. Es un acto de solidaridad anti-racista con los/ as ms oprimidos/as, de parte de la izquierda y otras fuerzas progresistas que ayuda a construir la unidad de clase. Nuestras hermanas y hermanos que estn luchando contra las medidas de austeridad por el mundo nos estn mostrando que el resultado de esta lucha ser determinado en las calles, no las cabinas de votacin.

EDITORIAL