Most participants were members of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE) and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). Others were working in garment, textile, or packing plants not yet organized by these unions. Two workers who are members of the Communist League in Canada employed in the meat packing and garment industries also took part.

Sandler pointed to a number of examples of ongoing struggles by working people in the United States, such as the response by miners in Brookwood, Alabama, to the deaths of 13 coal miners in two explosions at the Jim Walter no. 5 mine September 23.

Miners are speaking out, explaining they told the company of the increasing safety problems that would lead to a devastating methane explosion in the mine, and countering attempts by government officials and the big-business press to cover-up Jim Walter's responsibility for explosion.

As the socialist workers met, state workers in Minnesota were preparing for a strike for decent wages and working conditions that began October 1. Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura is using National Guard troops to operate some services in the state and is spearheading a vicious campaign against the strikers, telling them they must accept "sacrifices" because of Washington's war drive.

"As the war drive against Afghanistan escalates, pressures by the bosses and their government will grow on workers to subordinate our struggles to the needs of 'our company' and 'our country,'" Sandler said. This gives communist workers an opportunity to discuss with fellow unionists and workers that the only "us" and "them" in capitalist society is "we" the working class internationally and "they" the bosses and imperialist rulers, each with conflicting and usually diametrically opposed interests.

Sandler and others at the meeting noted a number of other proletarian struggles unfolding: the protests in Cincinnati's Black community against the acquittal of a cop who killed Timothy Thomas earlier this year; strikes by 2,500 Machinists in Amana, Iowa, by packinghouse workers against Washington Beef in eastern Washington State, and by members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Wyoming.

These and other struggles are the most effective resistance to imperialism and its wars, Sandler stated, because they objectively weaken the employers and their government in Washington, which is preparing a military assault on the people on Afghanistan and is intensifying its assault on workers' rights at home.

Sandler reviewed the response of socialist workers on the job to the war hysteria being organized by the U.S. government in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. "All of these displays of patriotism are aimed at drawing working people into the war they are organizing against the people of Afghanistan and the region," Sandler said. "But to do that they will also have to step up their assault on working people at home."  
 
Attacks on workers' rights
Using the September 11 event to do what they were already planning to carry out, airline companies drew on "emergency" provisions in contracts to justify massive layoffs of up to 100,000 workers. American Airlines and others initially announced they would deny severance pay to laid-off workers, but had to back off in the face of protests by workers and their unions.

"Every airline worker will now have to go to the security office in the airports and be put through another security screening," he said. The federal government is placing armed National Guard troops in the airports and federal marshals on commercial flights.

Immigrant workers have come under increasing assaults as part of the war drive. "Many Mexican workers who usually visit home this time of year are not going because they know it will be difficult to get back across the border," said Sandler. Plans floated by the Bush administration to accelerate the legalization of immigrant workers from Mexico are being shelved for now and the U.S. government is preparing new ID cards for Mexicans who regularly come into the United States that include a fingerprint imprint that will be scanned for computerized identification.

"The bosses will also use the war drive to attempt to get us to produce more," explained Ron Morales, a garment worker from New Jersey. Supervisors in his plant distributed a letter in English and Spanish. Referring to the events of September 11, the statement read: "The most important contribution you can make to your business is to process, cut, sew, finish, and ship as many shirts as you can, as fast as you can, and with outstanding quality." Morales also explained that the company had cut the workday since September 11, with him and other workers getting only 25 hours a week.

Socialist workers described a number of instances of resistance to such efforts by the employers. John Studer, a garment worker from Philadelphia, for example, said that five strikes are now under way in that city, including by bus drivers, grocery store clerks, and other workers. Studer said that while socialists and fellow unionists were visiting one of these picket lines recently some passerby got mad at the pickets for striking past September 11. "But the strikers stood fast and said they are not ready to put off their fight," he said. "It's a good example of workers not subordinating their struggles to the government's 'national unity' hoax."

The imperialist war drive and assault on workers' rights by the employers and their government highlights the need for socialist workers to carry out communist work in the unions, many speakers said. This can only be done through their collective and consistent work talking socialism on the job. This includes bringing Pathfinder books, the Militant, and Perspectiva Mundial to co-workers; functioning as revolutionary politicians in the unions, seeking to chart a course that strengthens the basic defense organizations of the working class; bringing co-workers to strikes, social protest actions, and Militant Labor Forums and other political events; and introducing workers to the Socialist Workers Party and Young Socialists.

Experiences in New York to further this effort, where socialist workers are building fractions in the meat packing and garment industries, were discussed at the meeting.

"Over a two-year period in a central meatpacking district in New York City we had done very little political work, brought no workers to party forums and political events, sold few Pathfinder books and pamphlets and no subscriptions to the Militant," said Dennis Rich. "We had to recognize and act on the fact that we did not have a communist fraction, of the type we built at the beginning of the party's turn to the industrial unions and explained in the book The Changing Face of U.S. Politics."  
 
Course to rebuild fraction
Rich, who went through that experience in New York and now works in a textile mill in the Carolinas, said the decision "brought to an end going to work to do your duty. We set out on a course to rebuild a communist fraction of meat packers in New York, where party and YS members think socially and act politically and talk socialism on the job every day." A similar decision was made to begin the process of building a fraction of garment workers in the center of the industry in the city.

This is possible with regular party leadership attention and work with each of the fractions-in-becoming. "The conclusions we came to in New York and the steps we are taking to rebuild fractions of socialist workers on this basis apply to the entire party as we work through the steps to strengthen the political work of our fractions in response to Washington's war drive the last couple of weeks," Sandler said.

After the initial joint session, socialists in the UFCW and UNITE met separately, concentrating more on the lessons of their political work in each industry and union they belong to.

"As a result of not being prepared, we found ourselves responding differently in some places," explained Lisa Potash, a Chicago sewing machine operator and member of UNITE Local 39-C, in her report to the meeting of the socialist garment workers. "When we function along these lines it means we don't have fractions that can be effective in the fight against imperialist war," she added. Potash said officials of UNITE appealed to workers to contribute money to a union-sponsored "Solidarity Relief Fund," a move that objectively aids the U.S. rulers' patriotic and nationalist campaign.  
 
Standing up to war pressures
"An example of the need for political clarity and firmness required by vanguard workers today is the rejection of the imperialist war drive in any form," stated Ernie Mailhot, a meat packer and member of UFCW Local 81 in Seattle, in an initial summary at the meeting of socialist packinghouse workers. "This is a basic principle. Those who give credence to the U.S. war effort against the people of Afghanistan, in any guise, help to undermine the understanding of the distinction between 'them' and 'us,' between the capitalist exploiters on the one hand and the exploited working people on the other."

During the discussion in both fraction meetings, many examples were given of supervisors passing out yellow ribbons or American flag stickers to be put on hard hats, and holding moments of silence "for the victims of September 11."

Diana Newberry, a garment worker from Pittsburgh, reported that in the plant where she works the bosses announced that there would be a moment of silence and prayer for those killed in the September 11 attacks. "I remained at my machine and did not participate," she said. "This led to some tension and some workers didn't want to speak to me. But it opened the way to calm civil discussion with a few others," Newberry reported.

The bosses also organized a prayer service in the garment shop where another socialist works in Newark, New Jersey. She explained that even though she had only been in the plant a short time she stayed at her machine and would not be drawn into this pro-war activity.

In many factories the bosses organized similar moments of silence the day after U.S. president George Bush called for such patriotic actions in his address to Congress September 20.  
 
A matter of principle
Samuel Farley works at Dakota Premium Foods in South St. Paul, Minnesota, where workers have been waging a struggle for more than a year for union recognition and a contract. "Every Friday, the company organizes a safety meeting in the cafeteria," Farley reported. "On September 21, management announced they would begin the meeting with a moment of silence. I asked them to unlock the door and stepped out of the room until the meeting resumed, even though I was alone in doing so at that time. It was a matter of principle."

Nan Bailey, a garment worker in Los Angeles, went through a similar experience that day at a large garment shop. The company asked all the workers at the plant to go to the plant's yard for a few moments of silence. Bailey and another co-worker were the only ones to stay at their machines.

Bill Estrada, a meat packer in New York, described his experiences on the job. "Things have calmed down a little, but there was a lot of emotion on the job the first few days after September 11," he said. "A foreman called me a 'terrorist.' There was a lot of pressure to speak out on the shop floor in front of everyone, on the spot. I decided it was better to approach individual workers and have calm discussions away from the boss, and to avoid any shouting matches. Socialists have won respect from a layer of workers and have a history of political work in this plant. A minority among my co-workers think 'we should get bin Laden.' But on the whole there is a lot of space to gain a hearing for opposing Washington's war drive."

"The answers to the big political questions are needed by vanguard workers to advance the struggles they are involved in," stated Joel Britton in his report on the work of communist meat packers in Chicago. He described systematic work among meat packers on the job, at plant gates, and in the region--as well as among broader layers in working-class neighborhoods--that have resulted in gaining new subscribers to the socialist press and selling copies of New International and Pathfinder books. "This is why we need to increase the political level of the functioning of our fractions. We are becoming more effective because we are filling this objective need."

Building on their experiences in carrying out a working-class campaign against imperialism and its war against the Iraqi people a decade ago, the meetings of the socialist meat packers and garment and textile workers affirmed the need to discuss with fellow workers why participation in moments of silence, taking yellow ribbons or American flags, or taking part in any other patriotic action weakens the working class in its struggle against the employers.  
 
Skills and building fractions
Socialist workers in UNITE discussed the need to master skills in textile and garment shops, where speedup and increased production quotas are often the norm. In garment, where socialist workers prioritize sewing jobs, which are in the heart of production, workers often need to become proficient in several operations in order to keep the job. Sewing is a skilled job that takes time to learn, and, like other sewers, socialist workers seek to master a number of operations in minimize constant layoffs and short hours that often mark how the bosses organize production to the detriment of the workforce. Becoming a skilled operator is part of being able to get jobs in the large shops and garment districts where thousands of sewers work, Potash noted.

The discussion on gaining the skills necessary to do the job is completely tied with being an effective fighter on the job, being able to introduce workers to socialist ideas, books and the Militant newspaper as well as working with others against the bosses brutal speed up and worsening job conditions, she said.

The meetings discussed the subscription drives for the Militant, Perspectiva Mundial and to sell copies of the three issues of New International magazine that are most directly relevant to the current U.S. war drive against the people of Afghanistan--NI no. 7, with Opening Guns of World War III; NI no. 10, with Imper–ialism's March to Fascism and War; and NI no. 11, U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War. The meat packers fraction voted to adopt goals of 55 new Militant subscriptions, 55 new Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions, and 70 copies of New International before November 18. The garment workers adopted a goal of 50 new Militant subscriptions, 35 new Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions and 50 copies of New International.

Sam Manuel is a garment worker in Washington; Argiris Malapanis is a meat packer in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Tom Fiske, a meat packer in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Karen Ray, a garment worker in St. Paul, contributed to this article.
 
 
Other articles from the ISR:
Communists and the struggle against imperialism today
Speakers weigh revolutionary traditions, political opportunities
Lessons of U.S. war against Iraq
Anti-imperialist struggles by the peoples of Afghanistan and surrounding countries  
 
 
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