Honoring Tim Rigby

Tim Rigby, a longtime supporter of the communist movement in the United Kingdom, died suddenly here March 29. He was 45 years old.

Rigby was an enthusiastic participant in the Pathfinder reprint project, convinced that the ideas and lessons contained within the books he was helping to produce are a key contribution to the coming struggles of workers and farmers to overthrow capitalism. He also brought great energy to the task of distributing Pathfinder books and the Militant, at work, colleges, picket lines, and through commercial outlets.

Rigby was born in Kenya, where during his early years he witnessed the brutality of colonial rule. Later he followed the massive struggles against it throughout the African continent, which inspired his political development.

Witnessing firsthand the Nicaraguan revolution on a visit there in 1985 was another factor that convinced him of the capacity of workers and peasants, on a mass scale, to struggle to reorganize society, and won him to the communist movement.

Rigby went on to become a founding member of the Communist League in the United Kingdom in 1988. He was a rail worker in Manchester for many years, and participated in strikes and other struggles, introducing many workers to the Militant and Pathfinder books along the way.

Rigby's companion, Linzi Rigby, is encouraging those who knew and worked with Tim to donate money to Pathfinder, to ensure the continuation of the production of the books that were so much part of his life.

Debbie Delange and Anne Howie  
Manchester, England  
 

Boeing strike

The Militant's coverage of the SPEEA strike against Boeing was very good. Inside the company and out, people were surprised by the unity and tenacity of the strikers. They beat back a concession contract and strengthened their union and unionism at Boeing.

The company pushed SPEEA members into the actions they took. For the entire previous year and a half life at Boeing was like a death march with thousands getting laid off.

Raises were, in effect, curtailed or very small; openings for promotions were very limited; jobs were doubled up; campaigns to "lean" the work place dominated; Boeing stepped up its "metrics" campaigns to increase measurement of everyone's productivity. This coincided with additional mergers with smaller companies like military contractors Rocketdyne and Hughes.

While this was being carried out by management, more and more scandalous news articles appeared in the papers about defective aircraft.

It appeared people were just going along with Boeing's way without learning anything and without trying to find ways to resist it. It appeared that Boeing had pulled big layers over to agreeing with its profit-drive plan. It appeared that they had made people into "part owners" by tying their retirement savings plans into the stock market. The SPEEA strike helped bring out what went unsaid and was covered up at Boeing.

SPEEA beat back a steep concession contract. The members strengthened their union by showing through example that solidarity and struggle can bring gains for the majority. It is a good example of what to do and it got a lot of worldwide publicity.

J.K.  
Seattle, Washington  
 

Dublin and Orange Order

As a supporter of civil liberties for everyone, I am appreciative of the absolute necessity to protest assaults on our inalienable right to express our thoughts and speak our minds.

Be that as it may, one would have thought that people in responsible positions of political authority would appreciate the distinction between respecting the right of another to free expression and virtual endorsement of the ideas of the person or group in question.

Is there any wonder then that informed people in Ireland and in the Irish diaspora are aghast at the invitation given by the mayor of Dublin, Mary Freehill, to an organization that has so much in common with the American Ku Klux Klan to use the fair streets of Dublin for a march and parade?

That organization is the Orange Order, which claims the Rev. Ian Paisley as one of its more prominent members.

Barbara Fink 
Menasha, Wisconsin 

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Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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