Selling the 'Militant' to respond to INS raid

BY MAURICE WILLIAMS

Every supporter of the Militant is encouraged to help distribute the paper this week on the job, at picket lines, door-to-door, and on college campuses in an intensive campaign to present a communist voice and the interests of the working class in response to the INS raid in Miami, the latest outrage in the political course the U.S. rulers have carried out over the last decade. Many workers and farmers will seriously consider and welcome the perspectives in the pages of the Militant this week.

The Militant business office will quickly respond to more orders for the paper and we look forward to stories, short articles, and photographs on this effort.

Participants in the drive can build on their work to reach out with the paper over the next nine days to get better organized for the rest of the drive. Winning new subscribers takes careful weekly planning and organization, as partisans of the Militant respond to political developments and participate in class-struggle fights and actions.

At the halfway point in the drive we are behind schedule. The April 29-May 7 target week provides an excellent opportunity to get the campaign back on target.

Several workers, including some involved in labor battles, who recently bought subscriptions, have commented on their appreciation of the socialist newsweekly. Frankie Pickup, a retired miner in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, said he bought a subscription after meeting supporters of the Militant at the United Mine Workers of America convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Last December, 300 union members in Nova Scotia occupied the mining company's corporate headquarters and shut it down. The miners are engaged in a battle for jobs and pension benefits as the bosses close down the coal industry there.

Pickup explained how he hosted a team of Militant supporters at his home. "They wanted to come to Nova Scotia to do a follow-up story on the occupation of the coal mines. I invited them to stay at my house. Why pay all that money for a hotel? I fixed them bacon and eggs and they were tickled pink."

"When I get my issue I pass it around to the guys in the mines," said Pickup. He said many of them read the Militant article that reported on their struggle and the coverage of the UMWA convention. "They liked it. I passed out about 30 subscription blanks. I think you can expect some of them to become subscribers."

The retired miner asked the Militant to send him 50 subscription blanks. "If that takes off send me 50 more. I don't mind going to the mine site. I can also pass them out at the union meetings."

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