The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 72/No. 15      April 14, 2008

 
(front page)
‘We need a labor party
based on fighting unions’
SWP presidential candidate Calero
joins trucker rallies in Pennsylvania
 
Militant/Osborne Hart
Truckers and their families protest high operating costs at the state capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, March 31. Socialist presidential candidate Róger Calero joined them.

BY JANET POST  
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania—Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate Róger Calero joined two actions by truck drivers here protesting skyrocketing fuel prices.

At both events, Calero explained that rising fuel prices are one way in which the capitalist economic crisis falls disproportionately on working people. “This is why we need a labor party based on fighting unions,” he said, “a party that can fight for legislation to protect workers and farmers, and can mobilize support for workers’ struggles.”

“I’m glad someone else thinks like me,” said trucker Bill Carroll, after meeting Calero. Carroll had addressed truckers at a March 29 planning meeting here and said that “the problem is these politicians.” Pointing to the other truckers, he said, “We need one of us in the government.”

Cheering and honking, close to 100 truckers circled the state Capitol here March 31. Another 100 truckers and supporters rallied in the rain on the Capitol steps. The average price of Pennsylvania diesel fuel is $4.33 a gallon.

The rally also opposed Pennsylvania’s highest-in-the-nation diesel tax, additional tariffs on interstate highways, and the proposed privatization of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

“I couldn’t afford to bring my truck to the rally today,” said Danny Messaros, who comes from a family of truckers and has been driving for 17 years. “Why do we have to pay for highways that we’ve already paid for several times over?”

“We need to nationalize the energy industry under workers control, so that working people can see where the profits are really going, and make fuel affordable,” Calero told a group of drivers.

“I agree that key industries should be nationalized, not all of them,” responded one trucker. “But key ones should be regulated.”

Calero told the truckers that millions of working people are feeling the impact of the deepening economic crisis, and that he was calling for solidarity with the truckers’ fighting initiative. He described struggles by immigrant workers and urged the truckers to link up with May Day demonstrations for legalization of workers without documents scheduled across the country.

Some were glad to hear about the fight for legalization. One trucker disagreed. “No, our fight is different, this is to defend American jobs,” he said.

The socialist candidate explained how the bosses play on divisions of nationality to pit working people against each other. “Just like they pit independent truckers and farmers against workers who are angry about high prices,” he said.

Manuel Ochoa, a trucker originally from Ecuador, said that the fight for the rights of immigrants is connected to the concerns of the truckers.

“This isn’t just about truckers,” demonstration organizer and owner-operator Mark Kirsch said from the stage at the March 31 rally. “It’s also about fishermen and farmers and that retired couple down the street on a fixed income.”

Several of the trucks bore signs including, “Food or Fuel?” “Break Open the Bank,” and “Truckers United Protest Fuel Prices!”

Following the rally, many truckers demonstrated across from a local diner where Democratic Party presidential contender Hillary Clinton was expected to campaign later that day for the upcoming primary.

The truckers plan another protest meeting at the Gables Truckstop near Harrisburg April 5.
 
 
Related articles:
Support truckers’ fight against squeeze on standard of living!
New Jersey truckers join nat’l protest
Candidate joins Georgia truck convoy
Truckers stop work nationwide
Vice presidential candidate brings socialist campaign to farmers
McCain proposes shift from Bush foreign policy
‘Americanism,’ Barack Obama, and Malcolm X  
 
 
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