BY LEE OLESON
NEWARK, New Jersey - Industrial workers who are Militant supporters in a number of cities have begun to solicit and receive contributions from co-workers. This is an essential aspect of the effort to reach out as broadly as possible and raise $110,000 for the Militant Fund by May 10.

After five weeks, we stand at 43 percent of this international goal. This was the second week that substantial amounts of money were raised. But the last three weeks in the drive will require an escalation in the effort to collect funds and, where necessary, to increase the total pledges to be able to meet the local goals. More than $61,000 remains to be collected. Militant supporters in a few cities, particularly Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, sent in a healthy chunk of money last week and took a jump toward the top of the chart that appears on this page. Quite a few areas, however, remain significantly behind.

Worker-correspondent Clay Dennison reports that at an April 18 Militant Fund rally in Birmingham, Alabama, Meg Novak, who works at Meadowcraft, a lawn furniture factory organized by the United Steelworkers of America, described the positive response from several workers at the plant to the Militant Fund. She noted that the fund campaign is taking place at a time of shop floor skirmishes in the plant, as both workers and the company prepare for the June expiration of the union contract.

Communist workers in Birmingham who work at Meadowcraft took an initial goal of raising $25 from co-workers for the fund, Novak reported, but later raised it to $50 given the good results. They have met weekly to discuss how to approach fellow workers who had purchased the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial in the past and expressed interest in the coverage of these socialist periodicals.

As a tool they prepared a letter that explains the importance of the Militant and the fund drive. The result is that three co-workers contributed $5 each and a further $40 has been pledged. One worker, an immigrant from Mexico who is a subscriber to Perspectiva Mundial, helped translate the fund letter into Spanish - an important aid in reaching out to workers in the plant whose first language is Spanish.

The Militant Fund event in Birmingham succeeded in raising nearly $500. It got a boost from the attractive program, which featured visiting Young Socialists leader Joshua Carroll, who spoke on "Revolutionary Cuba Today." Carroll was part of a Militant reporting team in February that covered the Havana International Book Fair and a range of meetings with Cuban workers and farmers.

Panelist Jamila Williams, a Young Socialist in Birmingham, spoke about the irreplaceable role the Militant plays in providing facts about working-class struggles around the world and why contributions to the fund make such coverage possible.

From Des Moines, Iowa, Maggie Trowe reports that there are 29 subscribers to the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial in the nearby Swift meatpacking plant, and all of them are being asked to give to the $110,000 fund.

"People in the plant don't have a lot of money," Trowe says, "but workers understand that they as readers are the ones who sustain the Militant." So far, two workers there have made contributions, and a few more donations are expected.

Some of the workers at the plant are planning a poetry reading to raise money for the fund, Trowe reports.

In Newark, Jane Harris, a rail worker and Militant supporter, recently received a $10 contribution from a co- worker who reads the Militant issues that are posted every week on the Internet. Another Militant supporter in Newark sent a letter to about 20 other readers in northern New Jersey. The letter brought a $100 check from one Militant reader and a $400 pledge from another.

From Pittsburgh, local fund director Charlene Adamson reports that one highlight of the April 4 fund-raising event there was the remarks by Harry, a young worker from Indonesia, who explained how much he valued the Militant for explaining the truth about the economic crisis in Indonesia and the mass protests against the austerity policies of the Indonesian government that have been demanded by imperialist governments and banks.

Adamson noted that Militant supporters in Pittsburgh are at 50 percent of their goal. But while pledges exceed the $5,000 goal, only a few donations from Militant readers beyond those who are already members of the socialist movement have been received. Adamson reports they have set out to broaden this base of donations by seeking donations from a total of 40 people.  
 
 
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