Ohio conference to highlight working-class resistance, building the communist movement
BY PAUL MAILHOT
Workers fighting for unions and decent contracts, farmers resisting dispossession of their land, and youth protesting the death penalty and other brutalities of the capitalist system will mark the upcoming international Active Workers Conference in Oberlin, Ohio, July 27-29.
The conference, sponsored by the Socialist Workers Party and the Young Socialists, will feature special presentations by leaders of the SWP on the meaning of the working-class resistance that is unfolding--the sí se puede confidence that is growing among fighters today; class struggle politics in Cuba and the United States; and lessons for building the communist movement coming out of recent union struggles.
For any worker, farmer, or young person involved in struggle and who is seeking to link up with other fighters, the Active Workers Conference will be the place to be.
Panels featuring participants in recent struggles by working people will draw those attending the conference into the discussion of the changes in working-class consciousness that are coming about as a result of the bosses' unceasing drive against workers on the job--through speedup, cutting back on safety, and extending the workday.
Joining the panels will be coal miners building solidarity for the Pittsburg and Midway miners on strike in New Mexico and Wyoming, meat packers involved in union organizing drives in the Midwest, garment and textile workers fighting for union rights, and Young Socialists in different parts of the country getting jobs in these industries and becoming part of the emerging resistance.
Other panelists will speak about the growing opportunities to build the communist movement today. In addition, a number of classes on basic works of Marxism will be given.
A highlight of the conference will be celebrating the success over the past year of supporters of the communist movement in their efforts to put in electronic form the entire array of Pathfinder books that are the indispensable political weapons needed by working-class fighters today. The project to digitize all these titles is making it possible to keep a pipeline of revolutionary books flowing in more readable and attractive formats.
Pathfinder Reprint Project volunteers will sponsor a display of their accomplishments and how their work is organized. They are also planning to meet on the day after the conference, Sunday, July 30, to train new volunteers who have recently signed up for the project and others who are taking on new tasks.
Displays at the conference will feature the work of the printshop that produces Pathfinder books, and the steps taken over the past year to increase productivity to meet the demand for revolutionary literature. A special sale will be held at the conference with a big discount on the 60-plus newly reprinted Pathfinder titles.
Over the next two weeks, socialist workers and young socialists will be petitioning to put the working-class alternative on the election ballot in a number of states. In addition, teams of socialists will step up visiting picket lines and joining rallies of workers and farmers fighting for their rights. Interested working people and youth met through this work can be invited to attend the conference.
If you are interested in attending the conference, get in contact with the Socialist Workers Party branch or Young Socialists chapter nearest you
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