BY HELEN MEYERS
PHILADELPHIA - Supporters of the Socialist Workers Party
candidates in the upcoming city elections are petitioning
June 24-July 30 to get the socialists on the ballot.
Campaigners project collecting well over the 3,007
signatures required by law to ensure the candidates' names
appear in the voting booths. "We want to turn this
undemocratic requirement imposed on candidates who are not
of the Democratic and Republican parties into an opportunity
to present the working-class alternative," said Deborah
Liatos, the Socialist Workers candidate for mayor of
Philadelphia.
Liatos works at USAir and is a member of International Association of Machinists union (IAM) Local 1776. "Our campaign joins with workers, youth, and others who are standing up to the attacks on our rights and living standards by the bosses and their government," she said. "We need unity among workers to break down the divisions between employed and unemployed, Black and white, immigrant and U.S. born, men and women. We need to pose our own solutions to the economic crisis and attacks on our democratic rights."
Hattie McCutcheon, Socialist Workers candidate for city council at-large, explained, "Our campaign stands 100 percent in defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal and in opposition to the death penalty. The demand to stop the execution of Abu- Jamal is a central issue in the campaign."
McCutcheon is a member of United Auto Workers union (UAW) Local 1069, recently laid-off from Boeing. She is also an activist in the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal, a political activist who is Black, was framed up for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer in 1981. Pennsylvania governor Thomas Ridge signed the death warrant for Abu-Jamal and three others June 1. He is scheduled to be executed August 17.
John Staggs, an auto worker, is also standing for city council at-large. Staggs works at Ford Electronics and is a member of UAW Local 1695.
The campaign joined others from Philadelphia at the April 9 Rally for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C. The candidates and their supporters have attended meetings and other activities in solidarity with the struggle for a united Ireland and against British occupation of Northern Ireland. The socialists are also addressing pressing concerns by working people here about layoffs announced at Conrail, Sun Oil, and Ford Electronics.
The campaign is actively involved in the discussion and debates by workers at USAir on the drive by the company to slash wages and change work rules to save the bosses money. "What is happening today is a direct result of the ceaseless drive of big business to increase their profits at the expense of working people. We are confident that working people can organize to replace this society based on the interests of a rich minority with a system based on the human needs of the majority," Liatos remarked.
The socialist candidates point to Cuba as an example of a society where workers are in control in confronting the economic crisis, the same crisis workers the world over are facing today. The candidates and their supporters encourage unionists, students, and others to learn more about Cuba. Those interested in helping to petition to get the Socialist Workers Candidates on the ballot in Philadelphia can call (215) 546-8218, fax: (215) 546-8196 or come by the campaign office at 1906 South St. Help is needed throughout the drive. July 15 and 22 are main target dates.
Helen Meyers is a member of UAW Local 1695 at Ford Electronics.