The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.45           December 22, 1997 
 
 
Sales At Plant Gates, Campuses Build Socialist Conference  
Below are notes from supporters of the Militant and Pathfinder Press around the world about sales of socialist literature in recent weeks. BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -Socialist workers and young socialists in the southeast region have stepped up sales of the Militant at factory plant gates and campuses in response to the recent threats of war against Iraq and in preparation for the upcoming southeast regional educational conference in Birmingham (see ad on page 6).

Militant supporters from Pittsburgh traveled to southern West Virginia, where they sold the newspaper to members of the United Mine Workers of America. Edwin Fruit reports that the team carried a sign that said "U.S. Hands off Iraq! Stop the government assault on the Teamsters!" and sold 9 issues of the Militant at two mine portals.

Lea Sherman, a member of the machinists union in Houston, reports that communists in that city have relaunched regular factory plant gate sales. In one week they sold 10 copies of the Militant to members of the International Association of Machinists at Wyman Gordon, 3 copies to railroad workers and 2 to oil workers.

Twenty-five people attended a forum at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro entitled "Why the U.S. War Against Iraq Doesn't End." The speakers were Raina Masri of the Iraq Action Coalition in Raleigh and John Armstrong of the Young Socialists. M.J. Rahn, a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, reports that so far, seven people from Greensboro and Raleigh are planning to attend the Birmingham conference.

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PARIS - "We sold 107 Pathfinder titles at an antifascist book fair November 19-23 in Gardanne, which is in the southern part of the country near Marseille," reports Derek Jeffers. "An international team of six activists from France, Canada, and the United Kingdom sold six copies of the new French-language edition of The Changing Face of U.S. Politics: Working-Class Politics and the Trade Unions; a dozen copies of Nouvelle Internationale no. 5, which features the article "Imperialism's March Toward Fascism and War," and five copies of Nouvelle Internationale no. 4, that has the article `The Opening Guns of World War III.'" Jeffers said the team also sold 30 copies of Socialism and Man in Cuba by Cuban revolutionary leaders Ernesto Che Guevara and Fidel Castro; as well as 33 copies of a translated version of Counter-Mobilization: A Strategy to Fight Racist and Fascist Attacks that was produced by Young Socialist members in France.

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DES MOINES, Iowa - "For the month of November, supporters in Des Moines sold 92 Pathfinder titles said Dick Geyer. "The highlight of the month was our trip to Denver where we participated in an anti-racist rally and extended solidarity to more than 1,000 steelworkers on strike at CF&I in Pueblo, Colorado. During the trip we sold 57 Pathfinder titles and 26 single issues of the Militant."

Among the books and pamphlets unionists and other activists bought were Two Speeches by Malcolm X; In Defense of Socialism by Cuban president Fidel Castro; Europe and America: Two Speeches on Imperialism by Russian revolution leader Leon Trotsky; and At the Side of Che Guevara: Interviews with Harry Villegas (Pombo). Supporters of the socialist press also sold three single issues of the Militant at the steelworkers picket line.

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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - In the month of November, socialist workers in the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) sold 32 books to co-workers, reports Meg Novak from Birmingham. More than a dozen copies of the Marxist magazine New International were sold; 13 titles on Malcolm X and the Black struggle; five on Cuba; and four of An Action Program to Confront the Coming Economic Crisis.

Activists in Des Moines sold 10 copies of the Militant with the headline "U.S. Hands off Iraq!" to workers at the plantgate of a USWA-organized factory. In Houston a USWA member purchased a Militant subscription and in Newark, a steelworker bought a subscription to Perspectiva Mundial.

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ATHENS, Greece - "Our sales at the Pathfinder bookstore here totaled 28 titles," writes Georges Sayad. "By far our best seller was The Second Declaration of Havana, of which we sold 15." The pamphlet is available in English, French, Greek, and Spanish.  
 
 
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