BY MANUEL GONZÁLEZ AND SAMUEL FARLEY
KAYENTA, Arizona - On September 16 we left Los Angeles and
headed out to the Black Mesa coal complex in Kayenta,
Arizona. Our team also included Estelle DeBates from Seattle.
The complex consists of two large mines, Black Mesa and
Kayenta, which are located in the heart of the Navajo Nation,
making them very unique coal mines. Most of the workers are
Navajo and the mines function under the jurisdiction of the
tribal government. Affirmative action in the hiring process
and reclamation of the land are two conditions to which the
private companies running the mines agree in order to mine in
the area.
There have been many important and pivotal developments in the mines and in the area in the past three years. According to a miner we spoke to, the complex has been sold four times since the last contract, and the current owner, Texas Energy, has just put the facility up for sale again. Two miners spoke in favor of a strike in the year 2000 when their contract expires. Cut backs, layoffs, a four-day workweek, and no new hiring, were some of the reasons why miners told us they favor a strike.
Uranium mining has also become a highly debated issue in the area. Hydro Resources Inc. has just been granted a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to begin mining. Many Kayenta residents who we spoke to are against the plans for uranium mining in the area. They expressed concern for the health of the workers and the possible pollution and contamination of the water and environment. Since the potential sites for the mining are on Navajo land, Hydro Resources will have to negotiate with the Navajo Nation before anything is finalized.
We sold the Militant at a public road, which is the only way into the entrances of both mines in the complex. We also made a big sign that said, "Read the Militant." Many miners who were already familiar with the Militant asked us where we had been for the past few years. They were glad to see us out there once again.
We sold 18 issues of the Militant and two supplements on the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan and Sudan at the road entrance to the two mines, Black Mesa and Kayenta, during a late afternoon shift change. At a shopping center in Kayenta, we sold 20 copies and a sub to the Militant.
The timing of these teams to the western coal mines is important, since the struggles that lie ahead are just developing. A second team left Los Angeles for Window Rock, Arizona, September 22 and will focus on the Pittsburgh & Midway mines there and the surrounding area. There will also be more teams going out to the western coal mines. If anyone is interested in being part of these teams, contact Militant supporters in Los Angeles for more information.
NEWARK, New Jersey - During the first week of the campaign to win new readers, I sold a subscription to one of my Black co-workers at Amtrak who was a youth organizer during the civil rights movement. He is interested in inviting a Black farmer to speak at a meeting of his union about recent protests against racist discrimination and the fight to defend their land. After I showed him a recent article in the Militant on struggles of Black farmers, he explained that he used to read the newspaper but hadn't in a long time because the person he used to buy it from, Tom Headley, had been fired by Amtrak bosses. He said that he "loved the Militant" and missed reading it.
After I told him that Tom had won his job back, I asked him to subscribe and he signed up. He thanked me for showing him the Militant. He and Tom will be working together on the speaking engagement.
I sold a copy of Nueva Internacional to a co-worker from Mexico who is a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees. He rode the passenger train I worked. We had discussed the drop in the stock market and what the effect would be on workers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Right after that I was bumped from the job. After seeking him out, I showed him Perspectiva Mundial and the four issues of Nueva Internacional. He grabbed issue no. 2, which includes an article by Che Guevara, and said, "I want this one!"
He said that he wants to buy a subscription to Perspectiva Mundial next week.
Supporters of the Militant in a number of areas are organizing regional sales teams, including to North Carolina to meet workers at several textile mills and at a huge meatpacking plant where there's an ongoing fight to organize a union. In Des Moines, socialist workers are preparing to travel to regions in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska to reach packinghouse workers.
"One place we want to visit is Garden City, Kansas, the site of one of the largest beef plants in the country," said Dick McBride, a meatpacker and member of the United Food and Commercial Workers union. The team will be on the road October 17-24. Other teams will be organized for one or two days to travel to packinghouses in Iowa, eastern Nebraska, and South Dakota. Anyone interested in participating in the Midwest regional teams can call Iowa supporters of the Militant at (515) 277-4600.
Brian Williams and other Militant supporters in Washington, D.C., are organizing a regional team to North Carolina for roughly October 7-12, and would welcome others joining in. "We plan to visit the area around Tillery, North Carolina, where leaders of one the Black farmers organizations are based," Williams said, and also plan to get in touch with a farm workers organizing effort.
Williams, a steelworker at the Bethlehem Steel's Sparrow Point plant, added, "Selling Militant subscriptions to my co- workers at the plant got off to a good start. I sold two subscriptions to co-workers - one introductory 12-week sub and one for a year. Both of the new subscribers first learned about the paper through discussions and buying copies of the paper from Militant supporters who sell the paper every week at the plant gate entrance to the mill."