Vol. 75/No. 41      November 14, 2011

Ulman, who works in a forklift assembly plant, appeared with five other candidates October 26 on the local ABC TV affiliate, Channel 13.

Asked how each would create jobs, Fernando Herrera, deputy Houston fire chief, said he would reduce municipal fees for businesses. David Wilson called for ending environmental and other regulations. Manufacturing executive John O’Connor blamed unemployment on “jobs going overseas to Asia and outsourcing.” Kevin Simms claimed he had contacts in Washington.

Incumbent Democratic Mayor Annise Parker played down her recent layoff of 750 city workers, emphasizing that no cops or firemen have lost their jobs.

Ulman talked about the kind of massive jobs program that is needed to both alleviate unemployment and combat the competition it fosters among working people. A real jobs program, she said, is something that workers will have to fight for and wrest from the bosses and their government. Such a struggle would strengthen workers’ fighting capacity and “advance the building of a revolutionary movement that can fight for workers power.”

At an October 23 candidates’ debate hosted by the alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, a Black sorority, Ulman talked about the importance of building solidarity with 1,300 workers locked out by American Crystal Sugar in the Upper Midwest and striking Pioneer flour workers in San Antonio.

Ulman has joined workers on the picket lines in both battles, as has Jacquie Henderson, a machinist and SWP candidate for city council at-large, position 1. She also talked about the need for labor to campaign for the rights of immigrants and women, as part of strengthening workers’ solidarity.

Candidates were asked about their position on the many homes that have never been repaired from damage caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Herrera said the problem was “bad management.”

“In Cuba,” Ulman said, “when hurricanes strike, people are prepared and mobilized by the revolutionary government to minimize loss of life and property. Rebuilding homes and replanting crops is a collective effort. By taking state power in 1959 Cuban working people put human needs first, not profits. That’s what we need to do here.”
 
 
Related articles:
Houston socialist: Build solidarity with workers’ struggles
Forum in Philadelphia protests police brutality
Vote SWP November 8  
 
 
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