Partisans of these publications made our goals by reaching out to working-class struggles and taking advantage of political developments, such as the April 22 cop assault by the Clinton administration in Miami, to discuss politics using the Militant, PM, and Pathfinder books. The last week was by far the best campaign effort--262 Militant subscriptions--building on the momentum of the previous two weeks.

We also sold 377 copies of New International, falling short of that target.

Many Militant campaigners report that the drive received a political boost from the May 17 coal miners rally in Washington and related struggles by miners. Several regional teams have gone to mining regions, including the Western mines where unionists are engaged in strike battles against concession demands. During the course of the subscription campaign, socialist workers and Young Socialists sold 49 subscriptions to members of the United Mine Workers of America around the country.

Some 8,000 workers rallied at the nation's capital May 17 to demand the government enforce its promise to provide lifetime health care for retired miners and their dependents. "We sold eight Militant subs at that event and one copy of New International," wrote Janice Lynn from Washington. "We sold another sub at a Militant Labor Forum that reported on the miners' rally and on the social movement developing in the coalfields."

Lynn said that during the final week of the subscription drive the campaigners in Washington raised their Militant goal and pushed to help the international campaign. They set up several literature tables in working-class neighborhoods where they sold four PM subscriptions and five copies of New International. "We sold three more subscriptions on the job to unionists who work at United Airlines and Amtrak," she added. "We also joined other activists in the circulation drive going door-to-door in coal mining areas outside of Pittsburgh."

Militant campaigners organized daily teams in New York the past two weeks, winning new readers among unionists, students, Puerto Rican activists, and young people interested in socialism.

One hot spot was in the Garment District, where socialist workers and Young Socialists members set up a street table nearly every day. Thousands of garment workers–going into work, getting off work, and pushing carts and racks during work-–fill the streets much of the week.

The presence of a regular team at the same street corner meant garment workers and unionists passing by could talk to and get to know the socialists, as well as being able to return to purchase a book or subscription later on.

One young garment worker said he was interested in subscribing to Perspectiva Mundial, but reported he had just been laid off by the boss for a month. The worker had joined the May 1 march to defend immigrant rights in New York, and wanted to learn more about working-class politics in the United States. He gave his name to the team and asked that they let him know about activities they are getting involved in.

On Memorial Day weekend Sunday, teams sold 18 subscriptions to the Militant.

Militant sales teams have met farmers who have been organizing actions to fight against foreclosures and racial discrimination by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some of these participated in the recent congress of the National Association of Small Farmers of Cuba. They will be speaking on their experiences and reaching out to more farmers who are becoming active in the struggle to defend their land. Campaigners for the Militant sold a total of 26 subscriptions to farmers during the circulation drive. This includes a dairy farmer in Australia involved in a meeting to protest the deregulation of milk prices.

The sales campaign was an international effort to reach out to workers and farmers and youth. Joanne Kuniansky from Sydney, Australia, wrote, "We sold six subscriptions to young people--our highest campus totals ever. Two of the youth we met at protests and other activities organized by Australia Aid to Ireland, three at Sydney University, and one at a protest against a new nuclear reactor planned for construction in a Sydney suburb." Kuniansky said they also sold a subscription to two Aboriginal rights fighters who "we met at Survival Day when we visited them on one of our regional trips." A May 28 march for Aboriginal rights attracted more than 200,000 people in Sydney.

The report below is one example of how supporters of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial succeeded in broadening the base of new readers.  
 

Four miners stopped to buy the Militant and two of them bought one copy of each issue. Afterwards we sold at two shopping centers, one in Sparta and the other in Belleville, where we sold six more. On Sunday two of us returned to the Sparta shopping center and sold seven more copies of the Militant and one of Perspectiva Mundial. Another member of the team went to Taylorville, Illinois, where coal miners had heard that a nonunion mine could open up and held a demonstration there. He participated in the event and sold two copies of the paper.

Most people who bought the Militant were not miners but had fathers, uncles, and grandfathers who had worked in the mines. All said that those particular mines had closed. One 19-year-old, who came from a coal mining family and who is now a steelworker, liked the coverage of the coal miners strike in New Mexico. He pointed to the UMWA's fighting legacy and said that even though the coal companies had shut the mines down in the area "to get rid of the union," he thought the union would be back.

On Saturday we set up a table at the farmers market where hundreds of working people come to shop. We sold two subscriptions, including one to a truck driver who is a member of the Teamsters union. The picture of striking miners on the front page stopped him in his tracks. He signed up for a subscription right away, saying he supported anyone who was fighting. The second subscription was purchased by a student who we met a few weeks earlier at Washington University. He picked up a copy of the Militant at that time and told us he had been thinking of subscribing to the paper.  
 
 
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