Several American Airlines workers were confused about what side to be on. On one hand, they saw the danger of being laid off in the case of a strike (which American Airlines has been on a fierce campaign to tell their workers would happen); on the other hand, they saw the inroads that the company was trying to make on the pilots union and the danger that example sets.

For Militant readers who are also confused about what side to take, I'd like to point out a few reasons why I support this strike:

Bosses in any industry try to whip up workers' fears about being fired or laid off to prevent working-class solidarity across picket lines. It may be harder to see why people like me, who are unemployed workers, and other workers who are employed at low wages, should support pilots who make $120,000 a year on average. But the pilots, like us, have to work to survive, and work just to line the pockets of the rich company owners. If we side with Clinton and American bosses in their drive against the pilots union, we are supporting an attack on our own fundamental right to strike, which is a right we will need to exercise more in the future as the global economic crisis deepens.

I think the fact that Clinton used the highly undemocratic 1926 Railway Labor Act (an act which has mostly been imposed on striking railroad unions throughout the years) to intervene in an airline labor dispute for the first time since 1966 is quite significant - not just for airline workers, but workers in all industries. If we let him get away with this here, it will be used in other situations.

The fact that we as workers are able to shut down a company as big as American Airlines, the largest domestic carrier in the United States, demonstrates the power that we have. The daily newspapers and local TV news programs here (and I'm sure those around the U.S.) are consumed with stories about inconvenienced passengers. But this strike is not about inconveniencing passengers. It's about the pilots' wages, stopping American from outsourcing jobs to lower-paid pilots for American Eagle (commuter) flights, and - most importantly -stopping bosses from taking away ground from workers in one of the basic transportation industries in this part of the world.

Joya Lonsdale

San Francisco, California

Repression in Tonga
Supporters of the Pro-Democracy Movement in the Pacific Island kingdom of Tonga face continuing government repression.

In January, Kalafi Moala, the New Zealand - based editor of the Taimi `o Tonga (Times of Tonga), had his passport cancelled. In an interview Moala explained that this is the first time this has happened to a Tongan citizen. Moala, who also holds a United States passport, now cannot enter Tonga without special written permission from the government.

Taimi `o Tonga, like all businesses in Tonga, needs a government trading license to operate. The newspaper applied to renew its license, which expired December 31, but so far the government has refused to issue one. "They are throwing roadblocks in our way," Moala said. "They say they have concerns about my conduct." Moala was jailed for 30 days last September when Taimi `o Tonga published a parliamentary notice of impeachment against a government minister. In the meantime, the newspaper continues to circulate.

Initial reports that the government would not issue a license, effectively banning the newspaper, provoked a response in Tonga and internationally.

"They shouldn't ban that paper," said Manoa Tonga, a Tongan workmate of mine in an Auckland factory. "The paper is very popular in Tonga," he added. Pro-democracy activists in Tonga are investigating alternative ways to circulate the newspaper, perhaps using the license of another publication. Moala said that Taimi `o Tonga editors will fight any government restrictions on the newspaper initially through the courts.

International media and civil rights groups also condemned the government's reported intentions. The secretary of the New Zealand section of the Commonwealth Press Union, Phil O'Reilly, told the February 13 New Zealand Herald that it was a sad day for press freedom in the Pacific.

`Akilisi Pohiva, the leading Pro-Democracy Movement Member of Parliament in Tonga, plans to visit New Zealand in late February or early March to discuss the situation in Tonga, at public meetings and with interested groups.

Terry Coggan

Auckland, New Zealand

Spokane Young Socialists
Several articles about the Spokane YS [Young Socialists] from the bourgeois press are full of factual inconsistencies, misquotations, and glib, condescending descriptions, but are also effective as well. I am in the process of writing an article about the Spokane YS and the achievements we've made and the activities we have been conducting.

Alaric Dirmeyer

Spokane, Washington

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of general interest to our readers. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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