BY MAURICE WILLIAMS
"Workers' resistance accelerates: From Iowa to Australia,
more workers say `No!' to the bosses," read a headline from
the May 19, 1998, issue of the Militant. By perusing the 1998
index of this socialist newsweekly, a reader will not only
get confirmation of this fact, but also see the conditions
for the nascent development of a working-class vanguard in
the United States.
The index - listing articles both by subject and author - and the bound volume of all 47 issues in 1998 plus index, are now available. They offer a wealth of information for workers, farmers, and students who want a record of the year "published in the interests of working people."
Among the highlights of 1998 were the victory by members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) at Caterpillar, who forced the company to rehire all 160 workers "illegally terminated" for union activity over the past six and a half years, and the UAW's seven-week battle with auto giant General Motors. The eventual settlement at the two plants that initially struck left the central issue - GM's drive to reduce its workforce and impose substantial productivity increases - unresolved, and gave workers confidence to fight the next round.
Militant correspondents covered the three-year lockout of workers at the Crown Central Petroleum refinery in Pasadena, Texas, and their fight against sabotage frame-up charges. The record of the 98-day strike by members of the United Mine Workers of America against Freeman United Coal Co. is contained in the 1998 Militant. And the battle by farmers who are Black against racist discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture can be read. These farmers are in the forefront of thousands of toilers on the land who are taking action to fight the effects of a worldwide collapse in farm prices and to demand relief.
The year 1998 was the 100th anniversary of the struggle to end U.S. domination of the peoples of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. On July 7 half a million workers went on a two-day general strike to back the phone workers' strike against the sale of the national patrimony. "It's a strike of the people," said Puerto Rican independence leader Rafael Cancel Miranda. Cancel Miranda spoke with admiration for the Cuban revolution, which "gives you a sense of the dignity of life."
A special feature of the paper last year was interviews with three Cuban generals, published in the International Socialist Review supplement to the paper.
Also useful to refer to today are the articles by a team of Militant correspondents who went to Yugoslavia in March 1998. Among other developments, they covered a demonstration of 100,000 Albanians in Kosova who were protesting against attacks by Serbian police and army units on several villages. As Washington and other imperialist powers deepened their probes for military intervention and discussed plans to set up a NATO training center in Macedonia for a military occupation force in Kosova, the Militant spoke with miners and other workers who explained how the Albanian struggle for self-determination is intertwined with defense of the gains of the 1945 Yugoslav revolution.
Other coverage ranged from a Militant reporting team to Indonesia following the ouster of the Suharto dictatorship to on-the-spot coverage of the battle by dock workers in Australia to prevent the government and employers from breaking their union, and more.
The 1998 index was mailed to all subscribers with their last issue. Additional copies can be ordered for $1.50 each. Bound volumes are $75. You can also order the index and bound volume from 1997, at the same prices.
Please send your order with payment to The Militant, 410 West St., New York, NY 10014.