The majority of employees at MSI voted to strike, which began March 2, 1997, until the company recognized and bargained with their union. Several strikers reported that one highlight of strike activities has been the distribution of a "strike fact sheet" that details the company's attacks against the strikers. This flyer notes the firings due to picketing, and the company's regular threats of violence. Several workers were at the rally because this fact sheet had been distributed at their plant gate. One of the MSI strikers reported his local was proud to be on strike and optimistic about the future outcome. Many members of this local are young.

When asked what he thought the strike had accomplished so far, Tom Cline, an extruder operator, said, "Well, before the strike the mill operators were in a separate building. The women who worked the punch presses and did the packing operations worked in another building separated from us by a parking lot. We were two divisions. Now, we are one division." Even though 25 workers have crossed the line and the company added 80 replacement workers, Cline said there has been no weekend work for four weekends in a row. "We had to work seven days a week for about minimum wage." Melissa Boulding, a punch press operator, joined Cline and said "We've made a lot of friends. It's been rough but we've all enjoyed it."

A roll call of strike donations was taken as part of the rally. Some came from plant gate collections, and one contribution was from area Teamsters at UPS. The donations added up to thousands of dollars.

Numerous groups were there to show their support for the strike, including a contingent of newspaper workers from Detroit, who waged a long strike against that city's two main dailies; garment workers in the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees from Huntington, West Virginia; and some members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA).

A contingent of 50 Steelworkers who waged a successful fight against Wheeling-Pitt Steel were also there and reported that all the workers who had been fired by the company during their strike were back at work.

Steelworkers from a local that fought against mandatory overtime as a safety condition several years ago at Ravenswood Aluminum Corp. in Ravenswood, West Virginia, also attended. Two young workers who were hired after the strike reported that with jobs created by the restrictions on overtime that were won by the long strike and because of the retirement of older workers at the plant, many new workers have been hired. "But I went through the strike with my dad," one pointed out, smiling.

Other supporters included a number of retired steelworkers from the LTV Hazlewood and South Side Works in Pittsburgh, who came as an organized contingent. LTV is in the process of shutting down the Hazlewood cokeworks rather than repair and maintain the works to meet U.S. government environmental standards.

After the roll call of donations, AFL-CIO secretary- treasurer Richard Trumka addressed the rally. After greetings from other speakers, rally participants marched from the Washington County Fairgrounds, past the plant to the strike headquarters for music and a picnic.

Several times during the rally and at the picnic area, workers came up to Militant reporters and asked to be included in the list of unions present at the rally, like a Trinity Casteel worker who said they had just won a contract after four years of struggle. He said we should also report on a strike taking place now at Monarch Rubber in Spenser, West Virginia.

A contingent of 25 workers were at the rally from a three- year-old Steelworkers local in Middletown, Ohio. Bill Tucker reported their local of 52 went on strike four weeks ago against Middletown Tube Works, where they made tubing for heating and air-conditioning. Tucker, who had worked at the plant for five years, said, "The company wants to eliminate all breaks and lunch time, increase comprehensive health payments, and run our lives away from the plant." Workers would have to be on call at any time to come into the plant to work. When asked why they were at the rally, several striking steelworkers said at the same time, "To show our support and solidarity" with the MSI strikers. One striker added, "It's them today. Us tomorrow."

Postal workers walk out in Liverpool, England
LIVERPOOL, England - Mail workers here walked off the job after management provocations and the announcement that mail was to be diverted to other Royal Mail sorting depots. After an announcement in the press that Liverpool's Copperas Hill sorting center was being closed and the work moved to a new site in Warrington, management cut the overtime in Liverpool and moved some work to Manchester, Bolton, and Preston. Workers walked out on the afternoon shift on March 23 and have picketed the building round the clock since then.

"Management has been trying to force a strike for 18 months" a striker who didn't want to give his name told Militant reporters on the 100-strong picket line March 25. The move to close the Liverpool sorting center is part of a reorganization of the postal service that is projected to result in up to 1,000 fewer jobs in this area. That is the central issue behind the strike.

James, a picket at the back gate of the depot who gave only his first name, said, "They have said all the full-time workers will keep their jobs but that still means all the temporary and part-time workers will be laid off. I'm a permanent worker but I'm opposed" to the reorganization. Officials of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which organizes the postal workers, are promoting a "Speke for Liverpool" proposal, urging the Royal Mail to build its new depot in this area at Speke, which is in Liverpool, instead of in Warrington further down the road.

Some 1,500 people turned out in Liverpool March 28 for a march and rally to support the mail workers' fight against jobs cuts. Among those marching was a contingent of dock workers who carried out an 18-month stuggle against their sacking by the Merseyside Dock and Harbour Co. A message of solidarity from a postal workers union local in New Jersey, United States, was read to the rally.

Transit workers rally for better contract in Atlanta
ATLANTA - Four hundred bus drivers, train operators, mechanics and other transit workers rallied here March 23 to protest the lack of progress in their struggle for a contract. Workers at Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) are members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 732 and have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 1997.

Some 150 union members rallied in the morning at the Lindbergh MARTA train station and then marched across the street to the administration building.

Bus and train operators are hired as part-time with no benefits and get $11.02 per hour, after working 30 days at $5.25 per hour during training. It is up to management when a worker goes full time, which sometimes takes up to 4-5 years. The union wants benefits to cover all part-timers and higher wages for all workers.

Bus operator Donna Royal said, "They want to take money from us. If we drive a smaller bus, they want to pay us less. They want us to give up part of our pension and their 2.5 percent wage offer per year amounts to a wage freeze." Top pay for full-time drivers with three years' experience is $15.81 per hour.

At 4 p.m. the same day 250 day-shift workers attended another rally at the same site. ATU Local 732 president Johnny McBurrows told the crowd that the company refused to negotiate and that's why the contract is in the hands of a "fact-finding" judge who will make a non-binding ruling soon. The last negotiation session was February 12.

Other speakers at the rally included Democratic party politicians who urged the MARTA Board of Directors to pressure the management negotiators to "do right."

Tarus Alexander, a bus operator, told the Militant, "We are the lowest paid drivers in a major city in this country."

Near the end of the rally workers chanted, "No Braves Shuttle!," referring to the shuttle buses that take people from the major MARTA train station to Ted Turner Field, on days that the Atlanta Braves baseball team plays at home. This reflected the workers' refusal to drive these special additional buses starting March 31, the day of the Braves' home-opener. This job action, workers feel, will put pressure on management for a better contract.

Cecelia Moriarity, member of the USWA in Clairton, Pennsylvania, and Young Socialists member Stefanie Swenko; Ann Fiander, member of the Communication Workers Union in Manchester, England; and Dan Fein, member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1996 in Atlanta, contributed to this column.  
 
 
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