BY CHRIS RAYSON
SEATTLE - In the first two weeks of the subscription drive,
supporters of the Militant at the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe
railroad here have sold one subscription and a copy of New
International no. 10 [which features "Imperialism's March
toward Fascism and War"]. The story behind each sale confirms
what the Militant has noted about the "sea change" in workers'
consciousness.
We attended a "town meeting" the company organized for its employees featuring CEO Ronald Krebs. About 15 track workers, members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWE), showed up for the meeting after their shift, some arriving in a company van. Their "spokesperson," a worker with 19 years' experience, took the floor repeatedly to challenge the company's layoffs of track workers while sacrificing safety. Krebs anticipated this was going to come up. In his presentation he referred to a previous meeting in a town near Spokane that turned into a "war" over layoffs with BMWE members. Krebs tried to intimidate the track gang spokesperson, calling him "ignorant." But this co-worker of ours on the railroad gave more than he got and emerged from the confrontation with a good deal of authority.
I and other switchmen had a chance to meet a number of the track workers at that meeting. I was talking to one of them in the back of the room when one of the many company supervisors there told us to keep quiet. This BMWE member, a track inspector, told me "I've been spanked enough" and left, coming back later.
Early in the morning soon after this meeting Jeff Powers, Socialist Workers congressional candidate and a switchman at BNSF, myself, and another switchman visited the lot where the track gangs form up. We showed copies of the Militant and participated in a wide-ranging political discussion with a number of BMWE members. The track inspector I had met at the back of the room at the town meeting came out of the breakroom to join the discussion. We pulled out two Militants and sold a sub to the track inspector.
I have been trying to meet a brakeman who bought a Militant from a literature table in Seattle. I finally met him and sold him another copy of the paper. He said he would buy a copy every time we met but wouldn't get a sub because he didn't want to get on any list. I showed him a copy of New International no. 10. He's interested, but I'll have to talk to him further about it. As I was showing it to him a conductor who has read the Militant for half a year recognized it as the book he wanted to get from ads in the Militant and bought it from me. This conductor had purchased an introductory sub and then renewed it for 12 weeks. He has decided not to renew again but has bought his first copy of the NI and is, I'm sure, interested in Pathfinder titles.
TORONTO - Supporters of the Militant and members of the Young Socialists set up a literature table outside the Skydome here when about 40,000 students and teachers came to hear Nelson Mandela. The team sold 24 copies of the issue of the Militant that featured the speech given by Cuban president Fidel Castro to the National Assembly of South Africa, as well as three subscriptions, and 17 books with speeches by Mandela, Malcolm X, and about the Cuban revolution. Also eight people gave us their telephone numbers who are considering subscribing to the Militant and five youth want to be contacted by the Young Socialists.
Supporters of the socialist press have also visited workers on strike with their co-workers to build support for the unions. As a result of this, one worker from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Local 819 decided to purchase 10 copies of the Militant and sell them to her co- workers. The paper contained an article about the recent strike of her local union against the plastics company W. Ralston in Brampton. The same week, a member of Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 252 on strike at Gill Machine, two workers from the CAW at Chrysler and Ford, and a worker from Ford Electronic who is a member of the International Association of Machinists all bought subscriptions to the Militant.
Supporters of the paper also have been selling at the University of York. In the last two weeks, students bought seven books, including two issues of New International, and more than 15 copies of the Militant. Some of them gave us their name and telephone number to contact them about the Young Socialists becoming an official organization at the university.
Russo said supporters of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial who work at meatpacking plants in Iowa have found a good response to the socialist publications. Meatpacker Tom Alter who works at IBP in Perry, Iowa, said he sold a copy of New International no. 11 to his co-worker from Sudan. "I had been talking to him since the U. S. bombed Sudan. I had previously sold a subscription to his roommate," Alter reported.