A West Coast regional meeting and educational weekend May 13-14 in San Francisco kicked off a week of events that helped to advance the work of building a strong internationalist proletarian youth organization.

The West Coast Regional Weekend began with YS members from Los Angeles and Tucson, Arizona, hopping on buses to attend a demonstration in San Francisco on May 13 to demand freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black journalist who was railroaded to death row in 1982. These buses were organized by various groups involved in the fight to free Abu-Jamal and were a great place for Young Socialists to meet and discuss politics with as many serious youth as possible. YS members also drove to the demonstration from Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, Tucson, and Oakland.

The YS differentiated itself from other youth organizations at this demonstration, bringing a clear perspective on issues ranging from the INS raid in Miami to the eviction of protesters on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques to the history of working people's struggles around the world. Discussing politics at Pathfinder literature tables was a part of the YS's participation at the demonstration. A large number of youth there asked to keep in contact with the YS.

The Mumia Abu-Jamal demonstration was a great starter for the West Coast Regional weekend. The Saturday demonstration was followed by a Young Socialists fund-raising dinner at the San Francisco Pathfinder Bookstore, a fund-raising book sale and raffle, and a forum on the Militant editorial "In defense of the Cuban revolution, in defense of the working class" given by Rashaad Ali, an airline worker and member of the International Association of Machinists. Two youths who participated in the Mumia demonstration came to the forum. The YS raised almost $370 from the fund-raising events, which goes toward the national fund drive.

On May 14 a West Coast regional Young Socialists meeting was held in San Francisco. Those present discussed two reports, one given by Doug Nelson for the YS National Executive Committee, and one by Louis Turner, West Coast regional YS fund drive director, on the Young Socialists summer perspectives and the West Coast regional fund drive situation, respectively.

The discussion on the summer perspectives centered on the creation of summer school centers--cities where YS members can move to for the summer to build chapters of the YS, collectively study the history of the working-class movement, participate in the class struggle, get jobs in industry, and help petition to get Socialist Workers candidates on the ballot in different states. Many YS members living on the West Coast expressed interest in going to the South for the summer, one area where numerous battles by workers and farmers have been breaking out.

Rounding out the weekend were two classes. One, on "Two conflicting class views," was based on a feature Militant article and was given by socialist worker John Benson. The other, given by Louis Turner on "To be a revolutionary doctor, first you must make a revolution," was based on a speech given by Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara, reprinted in the Pathfinder book Che Guevara Talks to Young People.  
 
Tucson regional team
On May 16, a team of Young Socialists went to Tucson, Arizona. They organized campus visits, educationals on immigrant rights violations by vigilantes on the U.S.-Mexico border and Militant editorials, community Militant and Perspectiva Mundial sales at a Pathfinder literature table, and Militant sales to copper miners. They met and expressed their support to striking miners in the New Mexico region and tomato workers fighting for a union in Willcox, Arizona. YS member April Holland and socialist worker Carole Lesnick, a member of the United Auto Workers, came from Los Angles to join with Young Socialists in Tucson for the activities.

In Willcox we met with six tomato workers, who invited us over to their home for a discussion on their fight to unionize. They informed us they will be voting in their union election by July 20.

An article published in the January 6 Arizona Daily Star focused on the struggle unfolding in Willcox, where more than 250 tomato workers (tomateros) are entrenched in a unionization battle. The article emphasized that these workers are at the forefront of 56,000 Arizona agricultural workers in a $6.3 billion a year industry.

The workers we talked to explained that the stakes in this battle are high for both the workers and the owners. They also said that the workers in Willcox need the support of all workers because the tomateros' road for union representation is going to be a long and hard-fought one.  
 
 
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