BY MICHAEL BAUMANN
NEW YORK, New York - Equipped with paintbrushes, hammers,
saws, sheetrock drills, and other tools, more than 80
supporters of Pathfinder Press fanned through the publisher's
printshop here in a Red Weekend of voluntary labor November
20-22. In three days they finished a range of tasks needed to
bring in the new computer-to-plate equipment the shop had
ordered - the Agfa Galileo platesetter.
Supporters came from every city in the United States and Canada where Pathfinder has a bookstore, and some in between. Many were communist workers with years of experience in industry; others were newer to politics, including members and contacts of the Young Socialists from Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, Santa Cruz, and elsewhere.
Over the weekend the volunteers worked with great care as production continued in most of the factory. Beginning on November 20, crews tore down part of two internal walls to create an entrance large enough for the huge crates housing the platesetter.
The new equipment, once it is up and running, will make it possible to produce printing plates directly from computer files. This completely eliminates a previous -and highly labor- intensive - process of stripping up by hand large sheets of film.
Within hours after the machinery and rigging crews arrived - at 7:00 a.m. on the dot the morning of November 21 - the dismantled walls were back up; the plumbing and electric fixtures they housed were on line for the night production shift. Press operators were turning out work on the two Heidleberg sheetfed presses that had been taken out of production for two shifts and wrapped to protect them from construction dust.
In the section of the factory housing the platesetter itself, work continued for several more days to turn the area into a bright, well-lit, dust-free showcase that can make it possible to operate state-of-the art printing technology using proletarian norms of work. In the process the volunteers are setting a standard that the rest of the factory has taken on the challenge to match.
Volunteers also painted the second floor sales offices and renovated the room that formerly held the bulky Robertson horizontal camera, which the new equipment made obsolete.
In addition to the work they carried out in the shop, participants in the Red Weekend took part in a number of political events in the area. This included, in New York, a conference and car caravan demanding release of Puerto Rican political prisoners, and, in New Jersey, an action in the state capital, Trenton, in defense of women's right to choose abortion.
Meals were organized by the volunteers themselves, along with a class on the Cuban revolution today and a social event at a nearby school November 20. Funds raised through these efforts totaled nearly $1,200, which will be used to provide "scholarships" to help a number of local Young Socialists and supporters get to the YS convention in Los Angeles December 4-6. A raffle organized by the Young Socialists raised another $280.
The weekend also included a presentation by Janice Prescott on the work being done by 140 volunteers around the world to create electronic files of every Pathfinder book and pamphlet. This, along with the new equipment, is the second essential element for producing books rapidly, in response to shifts and developments in the class struggle. Prescott, a leader of this work, centralizes files sent in, prepares a single CD for each book, and turns the finished product over to Pathfinder, ready to got to press.
A capital fund of $550,000 has been established to pay for the new platesetter and to pay off outstanding loans on the shop's three presses. It got a $5,000 boost over the weekend in contributions from among the volunteers. The fund now stands at $202,000 in contributions and pledges. The task remains to raise $148,000 by the end of December to meet the full $350,000 cost of the Agfa Galileo.
To find out how you can make a capital contribution, write to the Capital Fund Committee, 410 West St., New York, NY 10014.