This fight is another example of the increasing numbers of working people in the United States and other countries who refuse to accept the bosses' demands for cutbacks and are willing to fight. They join the ranks of other workers who are or have recently been engaged in battles, such as the striking unionists at Titan Tire in Des Moines, and coal miners on strike in western Pennsylvania. This bubbling resistance by working people to the capitalist offensive is international, from the docks of Australia to the general strike that paralyzed Denmark.
These labor struggles are having an impact on broader layers of workers who want to stand up to the bosses' demands for "management rights" and other attempts to run roughshod over our wages, working conditions, and rights. Many working people can identify with the transit workers' opposition to the efforts to deepen the two-tier wage system and use more part-time work. In fighting for greater class solidarity, the transit workers show how all working people can defend our interests.
The wealthy class and their media are cranking up their propaganda to try to isolate the transit strikers. They cry crocodile tears over "innocent victims" of the strike, feigning sympathy for workers who rely on public transportation. But it's the city government that is trying to undermine public transportation by decreasing service, hiking fares, and slashing jobs. To accomplish this, the SEPTA bosses and the city administration must deal a debilitating blow to the transit workers union.
The Militant urges its readers to get out the truth about
and win support for the Philadelphia transit strike by
reaching out to working people in every city they live. This
means discussing this fight on the job and in your union.
Going with co-workers and rebel-minded youth to labor
actions and other social struggles in your area. Taking the
Militant to sell to workers at plant gates and elsewhere,
especially at bus depots and transit barns. Fights like this
one create more opportunities to present the revolutionary
perspective in this newspaper and books published by
Pathfinder, such as The Changing Face of U.S. Politics. Some
will become interested in joining the socialist movement and
the fight to get rid of the dog-eat-dog system of capitalism
and create a world fit for humanity.
Front page (for this issue) |
Home |
Text-version home