As the chart shows, the total of the goals sent from participants in the campaign are higher than we originally estimated, reflecting growing experience in reaching working people interested in reading and discussing the news and perspectives presented in the publications on the job, on street tables, and at protest actions. We will be discussing this response with supporters this week and return with a new chart and figures for the international goals in the next issue.
A number of socialist workers have sent in reports of political activities highlighting their preparations for kicking off a concentrated political effort to sell socialist literature and recruit to the communist movement over the next eight weeks.
"We adopted our goals coming off a banner day last Saturday when we set up two tables in the workers district where we will be going door-to-door with the Militant and PM," said Tony Dutrow, a meat packer from Houston. Teams sold eight copies of the Militant and five of PM. A high point of their sales activities was the March 31 Cesar Chavez March for Dignity and Amnesty where they sold 17 Pathfinder titles.
"We are also planning a trip to Dallas to get back to garment workers we met earlier at the plant gate of Hollander Home Fashions," said Dutrow. "While in Dallas we're going to meet with a student at the University of Texas to discuss with him and members of his campus group supporting and participating in the Cuba-U.S. Youth Exchange scheduled for July 22-30 in Cuba."
Dutrow said they also plan to get someone there to join a future sales team to the coalfields. One such team is already in the works by Militant campaigners in Grand Junction, Colorado. "We want to sell the Militant at the McKinley, Black Mesa, and Kayenta mines in New Mexico and Arizona," the team organizers reported. "The miners we know--especially those at McKinley--will definitely be interested in the Pathfinder pamphlets. And some who we met during their strike against the Pittsburg & Midway Coal Co. will be open to discussing the lessons emphasized in the new book Playa Girón/Bay of Pigs: Washington's First Military Defeat in the Americas.
"We want to find out more about the fight of uranium miners, many of whom are Navajo. We plan to show the Militant article on this struggle to miners and other working people we meet through this coal team," they added.
Their note also mentioned getting out to public meetings scheduled in May around Native American farmers and ranchers who have filed a $19 billion class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture for racist discrimination. They plan to find out more about this struggle and interview some of the ranchers and farmers.
Anyone who would like to participate in future coal teams and other sales effort are welcome to contact the Militant.
Meat packers angry about line speed
"We sold the Militant and PM on April 7 to meat packers at Hormel and Quality Pork Processors at the plant gate in Austin, Minnesota," reports Karen Ray. The Militant featured coverage on the strike of workers at Hormel-owned Rochelle Foods in Illinois. "The mood is pretty angry with many workers saying the company has cranked the line speed up beyond contract limits over last several weeks. Workers at both plants found out they have been working nine hours a day and every Saturday since the strike began at Rochelle Foods," said Ray. Some of the workers had read the Militant before. They sold 11 copies of the Militant, four PMs, one Militant subscription and one PM subscription.
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