BY MAURICE WILLIAMS
"We want our Militant bundle overnight," said Cappy Kidd, a
member of the United Auto Workers in Chicago. "We need more
papers to send sales teams to knock on doors in working-class
communities where the cops recently killed two Black men and
one Black woman, LaTanya Haggerty."
Socialist workers and members of the Young Socialists are using the Militant, Perspectiva Mundial, and the book Capitalism's World Disorder: Working-Class Politics at the Millennium to reach out to workers involved in struggles, at plant gates, and on the job. Taking the social press and Marxist literature to fighting workers, farmers defending their land, and rebel-minded youth are essential to the campaigns.
As we go to press with four days remaining in the drive, we need to sell 475 copies of Capitalism's World Disorder, 544 subscriptions to the Militant, 132 subs to the Spanish-language magazine Perspectiva Mundial, and 347 copies of New International to reach the international goals. The key to meeting this challenge lies in taking advantage of political opportunities over the next few days to talk to strikers at Newport News shipyard in Virginia, meatpackers on strike in Washington State, working people resisting police brutality, and others fighting assaults by the bosses.
Coal team in central Illinois
Five workers subscribed to the Militant after meeting
socialist workers at a mine portal and plant gate in central
Illinois. One also got a copy of the recently reprinted
Pathfinder pamphlet Coal Miners on Strike.
"We first sold at the entrance to the Freeman Crown no. 3 coal mine in Farmersville," said Harvey McArthur, a meatpacker and member of the United Food and Commercial Workers. "We had a sign that said, `Subscribe to the Militant. 12 weeks for $10,' tucked under the windshield wipers of our car. Two passersby saw the sign, made a U-turn and came back to talk to us. One, a truck driver, bought a Militant; another, a staffer for the Laborers International Union, bought a Militant subscription and the coal miners pamphlet."
McArthur said three of the miners bought subscriptions to the Militant among the 40 who were going in to work. And seven others got copies of the paper. Many miners were familiar with the Militant from their strike last fall, and several commented about different times they had met other workers distributing the Militant during the strike.
"We told them there were a lot of other strikes going on that needed their help," said McArthur. "One of the miners said he was willing to do something, but that they never got any information about what was happening in other parts of the country. He bought a copy, and is considering getting a subscription to the Militant to help fill this void.
"After we left the Crown no. 3 mine portal, we went to the Bridgestone/Firestone plant in Bloomington, Illinois, where workers, members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), are headed for a contract dispute later this year. We sold five copies of the Militant and a subscription there."
Talking to Continental Tire strikers
Supporters from Birmingham and Atlanta spent five hours on
the picket line talking to several USWA members on strike
against Continental General Tire in North Carolina. "Spending
the time to get to know the strikers and listen to their
concerns as well as discussing Capitalism's World Disorder with
them is very important," said Ardy Blandford from Birmingham.
She said their discussions with the unionists ranged from why
the strikers felt the company was trying to break the union, to
what the capitalist system as a whole has in store for working
people.
"One of the strikers who bought the book didn't have the money, but another striker realized how much his fellow union member wanted to read it and offered to loan him $20.
"We set up a meeting at the home of a striker who had bought a subscription to the Militant from an earlier visit. He purchased a copy of Capitalism's World Disorder from us this time," said Blandford. "He offered to put us up the next time we come to North Carolina and have a barbecue, hang out, and talk politics."
The team also sold one Militant subscription, and three copies of the socialist newsweekly to the strikers. Several strikers expressed interest in building and participating in the June 27 "Steelworkers for Justice Rally" in Gramercy, Louisiana.
Packinghouse workers in Minnesota
Three socialist workers from Minnesota and Iowa went on a
two-day regional team to Worthington, Minnesota, where there is
a large Swift-Monfort pork packing plant. One of the main
objectives of the team was to find out more about the attitudes
and experiences of the workers inside the plant.
"We went door to door in two trailer parks in Worthington, where we sold five subscriptions to Perspectiva Mundial, including four to meatpackers," said Amanda Ulman, who works in packinghouse in Marshalltown, Iowa.
"We also sold five copies of the Militant, eight copies of PM, and one copy of the pamphlet An Action Program to Confront the Coming Economic Crisis in Spanish. We sold two PM subscriptions to two Swift workers who were part of a group five or six Swift workers hanging out near one of the trailer parks on Sunday afternoon.
"We had a discussion with them that lasted an hour, which covered a broad number of topics. We talked about the campaign for justice for framed-up immigrant workers José and Gonzalo Ledezma, the U.S.-NATO war against Yugoslavia, and how to confront dangerous working conditions," said Ulman. "One of the workers insisted on getting our phone numbers so they could call us if a struggle developed inside the plant."