“We are slightly ahead on our PM subscription goal, but we’ve lost a little ground on the Militant,” she said. “In the last two weeks of the drive we need to average 20 Militant subscriptions a week to make the 110-sub goal.”

San Francisco campaigner Ryan Scott reported that five packinghouse workers have signed up for subscriptions there. “We sold at the shift change outside a plant where I used to work,” Scott said. “During that sale, one of my old co-workers signed up for an introductory sub to the Militant and another decided to renew. We did a second shift-change sale at another plant. In the course of the week, socialists working at that plant collected three more subscriptions.”

“Two of my co-workers from Smithfield were at the massive April 25 march for abortion rights,” reported Janice Lynn, who works at the meatpacking giant’s plant in the Washington, D.C., area. “In the lead-up to and after the march, we had many discussions on the job around abortion rights. I let my co-workers know where I stand on the issue, and it looks like at least one Militant subscription will result from the effort.”

The goals taken by socialists in the trade unions are an important component of the international campaign, which aims to net 2,000 new subscribers to the Militant and 600 to Perspectiva Mundial by May 17.

Registering the progress they have made toward their local goals, supporters in eight cities increased their quotas last week, bringing the overall total closer to the international goal. The Militant total was 7 percent ahead of schedule as of May 4.

Campaigners face a bigger challenge with Perspectiva Mundial. They need to sell 263 PM subscriptions over the next two weeks.

The sub drive doesn’t stop at the U.S. borders. Partisans of the Militant campaigned with the paper during May Day marches in Sweden, Canada, and France.

“Supporters of the Militant from Gothenburg and Malmö, Sweden, as well as Oslo, Norway, teamed up to campaign at the May Day demonstration here,” reported Catharina Tirsén from Gothenburg. “We set up two book tables and sent teams fanning out into the crowd at a couple of demonstrations here, including one in the Gothenburg suburb of Hammarkullen protesting the impending closure of a health clinic, and another that was organized by the ruling Social Democrats.”

Socialists in Sweden have organized a Supersaver Sale on a range of Pathfinder titles. Ten of these discounted books were sold at the two rallies. “In all, eight subscriptions to the Militant and one to Perspectiva Mundial were sold that day,” said Tirsén. “This puts us over the local goal in Gothenburg by more than one-third.”

A similar Supersaver Sale organized in France led to success at the Paris May Day demonstration. “A total of 42 books and pamphlets was sold from our literature table at the event,” reported Derek Jeffers. “The bestseller was Women’s Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle by Thomas Sankara.” Sankara led the 1983-87 revolution in the West African country of Burkina Faso, formerly a French colony. Eleven copies of the pamphlet were sold, Jeffers reported.

During a large May Day rally in Montreal, members of the Communist League sold 11 subscriptions to the two socialist publications as well as a number of books. A worker from Venezuela, who was part of the contingent for the UNITE garment and textile workers union, signed up for a subscription to Perspectiva Mundial after seeing its in-depth coverage on the class struggle in that country.

See sales drive chart  
 
 
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