Two workers were on the picket line the morning we arrived. We introduced ourselves as members of the Young Socialists and engaged in discussion with the Superior Propane drivers about their fight. As of last November the workers have become members of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). They explained that this is their first contract fight.

One reason workers are upset is because of safety. In the last 18 months 17 workers have been injured in the plant. The two workers said that the day before the February 19 contract negotiation deadline, they arrived at work to find locks on the gates and hired security guards standing by.

We also discussed the fight of North American truckers who are currently protesting the increase in gas prices. The truckers in Canada have recently established their own organization called the National Truckers Association.

The two workers each bought a copy of the Militant and told us to return the following day when there would be more workers on the picket line. There were approximately 25 workers present the next morning. One of them, who we had met the previous day, introduced us to fellow co-workers. We introduced the Militant and two of the unionists bought a copy.

We learned that workers had mass pickets March 10 outside the Whitby and Guelph, Ontario Superior Propane plants. CAW members from the Ford plant in Oakville, in solidarity with the propane workers, were able to help shut down the two branches for the day.

Untrained replacement workers have been hired during the lockout. Workers said that the use of replacement workers endangers public safety. The workers emphasized that above all, this was a fight for dignity.

Ben Pobjoy and Gabriel Charbin are high school students and members of the Young Socialists.  
 

YS kicks off fund drive

Chapters and members at-large will raise the money through the political work they are doing on their campuses or at their work sites.

On Sunday, March 26, members of the YS from Birmingham, Chicago, Twin Cities, and Detroit organized a fund-raiser in Chicago at the reportback from the Havana Book Fair. The YS members there raised $579 by organizing a used political book sale and having a raffle at the event.

The political books were sold for $1 each. The main objective was to get the history and lessons of the communist movement into the hands of youth interested in a communist perspective.

The grand prize at the raffle was a copy of Making History autographed by José Ramón Fernández, one of four generals of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces interviewed in the book.

The fund-raiser was a success because it was a joint effort by all four chapters of the YS. Each chapter raised $144.70 toward meeting its goal.  
 
 
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