BY SUSAN LAMONT AND NAOMI CRAINE
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama--Socialist workers from here and Charlotte, North Carolina, teamed up March 25–26 for a visit to Alabama's coalfields and textile mills in the area. We sold the Militant at five mines organized by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). We also went door-to-door in three coal communities in Jasper, Sumiton, and Brookwood. Coal miners bought 23 copies of the Militant at the mine portals and we sold another 23 copies to workers at their homes. A number of miners said they were glad to see the Militant again.

Several workers bought two issues of the paper with coverage of the UMWA's fight to defend recent small improvements in black lung regulations, which the coal bosses and the Bush administration have moved to reverse.

After visiting the coalfields, the team went to Columbus, Georgia, and Phenix City, Alabama, to sell at the large Pillowtex facilities there. Although the Columbus mill had only one department working, three workers who are members of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) there bought the paper. They were especially interested in finding out more about the strike by their fellow union members at Hollander Home Fashions in Los Angeles.

Another eight workers bought the paper at the Phenix City mill, where much of Pillowtex's Columbus-area production has been shifted.

We also visited two small independent bookstores in Columbus. The owner of one of these told us he would be placing an order for several of Pathfinder's Malcolm X titles and would check out other books and pamphlets advertised in the Pathfinder catalog.

On March 28, the team visited the Hollander Home Fashions plant in Tignall, Georgia. Four UNITE members there bought the Militant. The next day we wound up the sales activities at Pillowtex's huge complex in Kannapolis, North Carolina, selling at two locations where UNITE members were going to pick up their paychecks. Despite heavy rain, workers bought nine copies of the Militant.  
 
Team gets good response from coal miners
BY TONY LANE
KEMMERER, Wyoming--A five-day Militant sales team that traveled to northwestern Colorado and southern Wyoming ended up selling almost 70 Militants to coal miners at five mines. The team included a meat packer and two coal miners.

One of the big responses to our sales efforts was around recent attacks on working people by big business and the government. Miners discussed with us the actions by the Bush administration to back up the airline companies as workers fight for contracts. As one miner explained, "They are taking away our power to bargain." There was also discussion on the recent attacks by the coal bosses and the government on black lung benefits.

The high point of the team was a sale at Pittsburg & Midway's (P&M) Kemmerer mine, which was the scene of a successful strike by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) last year. We sold 35 copies of the Militant there between two shift changes to miners and workers at the adjacent factories: a power plant and a coke plant.

The team also received a strong response at nonunion mines. At the Colowyo mine owned by Kennecott, where workers are on 12-hour shifts, we sold 11 Militants and workers talked about how the bosses fire and harass workers who speak out. The employers, one miner said, "treat us like dumb miners," explaining that the company will raise their hourly wage by 15 cents and then raise what they have to pay on benefits by 30 cents an hour.

At the Twentymile mine, another nonunion mine and one of the largest underground operations in the country, 12 miners picked up the Militant.

We also sold several copies of the Militant at two other UMWA mines; Deserado, where workers struck in 1998, and Seneca, a Peabody mine. Peabody settled their contract there after the conclusion of the P&M strikes at Kemmerer and the McKinley mine near Gallup, New Mexico. Workers explained that the company had a number of cuts on the table, including the 12-hour workday, but these were withdrawn after the union's success at P&M.

The team was able to talk with a small number of women miners at both union and nonunion mines. At one of the nonunion places, a woman miner explained that the company tries to keep women in less skilled operator jobs. A couple of women miners at union mines said they and other women miners around the country had been part of activities organized by the Coal Employment Project (CEP), which fought for women to get mining jobs and against discrimination in the mines.  
 
'Militant' is welcomed by meat packers
BY PATTIE THOMPSON
ROCHELLE, Illinois--Meat packers on strike at Rochelle Foods here have bought 11 copies of the Militant and three of Perspectiva Mundial since their walkout began. After introducing ourselves and our support for their strike, we described how the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial are written by and for working people. Some of the strikers talked about their experiences working in California in garment shops, on construction jobs, as farm workers, and in Mexico "where strikes are much tougher." Two workers at the front gate bought the Militant and one bought PM.

At the back gate, the strikers looked over the Militant and PM as they remarked how callous and profit-hungry the Hormel bosses who own Rochelle are.

We talked about how the line speed and forced overtime contributes to job injuries. One worker mentioned how his job pays better than others he's held but the company doesn't "pay nearly enough for what we do." We sold one Militant and one PM at the back gate.  
 
Campaigning at Cesar Chavez Day Parade
BY ELYSE HATHAWAY
SAN FRANCISCO--Supporters of Pathfinder, the Militant, and Perspectiva Mundial campaigned at the Cesar Chavez parade March 31. This was the first year Cesar Chavez Day was a state holiday. The crowd of thousands was young and very spirited. Delegations of students from MEChA chapters in the Bay Area and others several hours away participated. Many labor unions also had contingents, including the Ironworkers union, transit workers, hotel and restaurant workers, and flight attendants.

We sold five copies of Playa Girón/Bay of Pigs: Washington's First Military Defeat in the Americas, four in English and one in Spanish. Overall we sold more than $200 in literature, along with 21 copies of the Militant, two Militant subscriptions, and one Perspectiva Mundial subscription.

In March, supporters of the socialist press in the Bay Area sold 93 Pathfinder titles totaling $1,200. So far we have sold 44 copies of Playa Girón/Bay of Pigs, and placed another 22 copies of the book in commercial outlets.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home