BY ARGIRIS MALAPANIS
"We are now on target for our Militant and Perspectiva Mundial subscription goals, after being behind for three weeks," said Beverly Bernardo from Vancouver, British Columbia, in a September 28 note to the Militant. "Here's how we did it.

"First we sold eight Militant subs on two weekend trips to Vancouver Island, where 2,400 pulp and paper workers are on strike against Fletcher Challenge. Our efforts there included picket line visits, door-to-door sales, and setting up literature tables on campus and working-class communities. We also attended a picnic sponsored by the Communication, Energy and Paperworkers union local in Port Aberni.

"Secondly, we have sold subscriptions through a variety of activities in the Vancouver area: one on the job to a fellow member of the International Association of Machinists; two door-to-door in campus residences; one by calling back someone we met at a campus literature table; three to members of the Young Socialists; one at a Take Back the Night march, along with four Pathfinder books; one at a conference of youth against APEC [Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation]; and two at a Pathfinder fund event on Korea, along with one copy each of New International no. 7 and no. 10.

"We have also sold three special offers of a Militant sub and The Changing Face of U.S. Politics (see front-page ad) - two to young people interested in the YS."

The persistent efforts by members and supporters of the Communist League and Young Socialists in Vancouver, who are at the top of the chart at the midpoint of the subscription drive, point to what everyone can do around the world.

Consistently seeking workers, especially those who have gone through some battles, also pays off.

Socialists have been regularly selling the Militant to Teamsters members at three UPS depots in Atlanta for the last seven weeks. During this period, ending with the September 29 issue, they sold 119 copies of the socialist newsweekly - an average of 17 per week. One of these workers subscribed to the Militant two weeks ago, said Floyd Fowler from Atlanta in a telephone interview. Another turned up at a Militant Labor Forum recently, and seven signed a petition supporting the ballot fight of Doug Nelson, Socialist Workers candidate for mayor of the city (see article on page 4).

Following up on single-copy sales on the job brings in new subscribers as well.

"So far I have sold three Militant subscriptions to steelworkers at the Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point plant outside Baltimore," wrote Brian Williams, who is a production worker at that mill. "One guy, the head of the veterans committee in the union, bought a copy of the paper outside the monthly local meeting of the United Steelworkers of America. He said he had read an issue when it was sold at the plant years ago. After buying a couple of more issues he decided to subscribe.

"A young new hire also got interested in the paper after buying it for a couple of weeks. He suggested keeping in touch by e-mail since we worked different shifts in different departments. `The Militant is a great paper,' he wrote in one e-mail message. A week later he also signed up for his subscription."

During the fourth week of the drive the Militant received 19 new subscriptions from unionists in the United States who signed up after talking to socialists on the job, the highest weekly total yet.

Socialist workers find interest in the paper in all kinds of labor events. During the September 21 - 25 AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh, for example, they sold 100 copies of the Militant, three subscriptions each to the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial (PM), and 30 Pathfinder books.

As the 30th anniversary of the fall in combat of Ernesto Che Guevara approaches, sales of books by the Argentine-born revolutionary and on the significance of his work for today are on the rise.

Janice Lynn, a member of the International Association of Machinists from Washington, D.C., reports that socialists sold 5 subscriptions to the Militant and 1 to PM, and 42 books at the September 27 - 28 Baltimore Book Festival. These included Guevara's Bolivian Diary, Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War, 1956 - 58, Che Guevara Speaks - Selected Speeches and Writings, and two copies of New International no. 8 on "Che Guevara, Cuba, and the Road to Socialism."

As we enter the fifth week of the drive -a "target" week of sales - Militant supporters around the world are increasing their efforts to get back on or ahead of schedule.

"Our goal is to be back on target by the end of the target week (i.e. with 12 Militant subscriptions under our belt)," wrote Bob Aiken from Sydney, Australia. "Among other things, next week we're getting out to a coal miners picnic, organized by the Northern District of the CFMEU miners' union."  
 
 
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