BY MIKE GALATI
NEW YORK - Supporters of the New York Socialist Workers
Campaign are hitting the pavement to collect the thousands of
petition signatures needed to put Al Duncan for governor,
Ruth Robinett for lieutenant governor, and Rose Ana Berbeo
for U.S. Senate on the ballot in New York state. They are
getting a good response from workers who may soon be on
strike at Bell Atlantic, Blacks outraged at Mayor Rudolph
Guiliani's vow to prevent the upcoming Million Youth March
from passing through Harlem, airline workers, taxi drivers,
and others.
But there's a lot of work ahead, and the campaign is appealing for help from supporters around the area to pitch in. As of August 5, 8,600 signatures had been collected. The goal is to turn in 22,000 signatures by August 18. That is one and a half times the number required by the state election laws, designed to make it difficult for working- class candidates to be on the ballot.
Plans for the coming 10 days include day-long and evening teams every day, as well as regional teams to Buffalo, Albany, and Long Island. Supporters plan to get back to Ossining, New York, where gubernatorial candidate Duncan recently participated in a vigil with activists against police brutality there who are demanding that the cops who shot and killed 24-year-old Christopher Malone, a Black man, be jailed.
All those who would like to volunteer can contact the campaign office at (718) 230-8643.