The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.14           April 8, 1996 
 
 
Campaign To Sell `Episodes' Extended  

BY NAOMI CRAINE

On the initiative of leaders of the Socialist Workers Party's trade union work, supporters of Pathfinder books have decided to continue their campaign to sell copies of Ernesto Che Guevara's Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War by one month, to May 1. The party's National Trade Union Committee urged this step to allow socialist workers selling the book to advance this campaign while linking up with important events in defense of Cuba.

Dennis Richter, a member of the United Transportation Union, explained, "We can use the book campaign, along with the Militant, to build participation in the upcoming congress of Cuban unionists and promote discussion about Cuba in the U.S. labor movement. Socialist workers will combine selling Episodes with distributing the theses that Cuban unionsts will discuss at their congress."

From April 25 to 30, the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC) will hold its 17th congress in the capital city of Havana.

Hundreds of thousands of workers in Cuba have been discussing the convention theses, a resolution that offers a perspective for combating the effects of the worldwide depression and defending workers power and the conquests of the revolution in Cuba. The Militant, with the installment in this issue, has now printed the entire document.

Campaign participants are encouraged to take advantage of the extension to raise their goals. Campaigners in the trade unions now have the opportunity to map out battle plans to erase their deficit and meet their projections.

Airline workers debate Buchanan
Recent sales stories by supporters underscore this opportunity. Airline worker Mary Martin, a member of International Association of Machinists Lodge 1759 in Herndon, Virginia, reported that at her recent monthly union meeting, discussion broke on the candidacy of ultrarightist Patrick Buchanan, when one worker said Buchanan "wouldn't give our jobs away." The one Hispanic worker at the meeting replied that he didn't support Buchanan because the Republican candidate thinks workers are stupid. At the same meeting, local member Brian Taylor announced the CTC convention and encouraged co-workers to attend it. After the meeting, the discussion continued and two workers purchased the Militant.

Simone Berg from Newark, New Jersey, reports that Pathfinder supporters in the United Transportation Union in the New York area have already sold nearly double their monthly goal of 12 Pathfinder books and pamphlets on the job. March sales include four copies of the Communist Manifesto, two copies of the magazine New International with the title article "Imperialism's March toward Fascism and War," and a copy of American Railroads: The Case for Nationalization. They have sold 13 copies of Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, out of their goal of 16.

High sales at conference
The Guevara book effort is part of a campaign to increase overall monthly sales of Pathfinder books and pamphlets to 1,800 through Pathfinder bookstores and to 1,400 through other commercial stores, libraries, and universities.

Pathfinder supporters in Des Moines leapt to the top of the chart this week after attending a conference entitled "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" in Omaha, Nebraska. Joined by salespeople from Minnesota and Nebraska, the socialists found many professors and students interested in the breadth of titles produced by Pathfinder. Nine copies of Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War were sold. More than a dozen students at the conference expressed interest in attending the upcoming convention of the Young Socialists. Nine subscribed to the Militant and two signed up for Perspectiva Mundial. Fifty people requested copies of Pathfinder's new 1996 catalog - providing new opportunities for follow-up that may lead to increased classroom adoptions of Pathfinder books.

 
 
 
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