Socialist workers in the United States have reported increased interest in the Militant's coverage of struggles to defend workers' rights, including that of Michael Italie in Miami, the campaign to free the five Cubans locked up in U.S. prisons, and the students and workers from the Mideast who are being questioned by the FBI. The government's threat to place "suspect" noncitizens before military tribunals, with all the rights of a kangaroo court, and the broader spying by the secret police, are meeting resistance among working people and youth.

In some places the drive has gone over the top and partisans are pressing to get more subscriptions. With our sales on the uptick amid the increasing interest, we want to take advantage of this momentum by extending the sales drive until December 9.

We encourage socialist workers and Young Socialists in every city to discuss this political conjuncture, and to work at using the additional time in the campaign to meet all our goals coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the United States. All subscriptions received at the Militant business office by noon on Wednesday, December 12, will count toward the drive.

In Des Moines, Iowa, Militant campaigners went over the top, reports Joe Swanson this week. "We sold six Militant subscriptions in the past seven days, including one to a co-worker at the packinghouse in Marshalltown, Iowa, and three to workers in the working-class district where our hall is located. One of the subscriptions was sold to a young construction worker who is very interested in the Militant's coverage of the imperialist war at home and abroad. I sat down and went through some of the political questions covered in New International and the importance of those articles for understanding politics and struggles taking place today. He decided to buy nos. 7, 10, and 11 of New International. He also said he would like to attend Militant Labor Forums, and plans to come to the one scheduled for December 2 featuring Arrin Hawkins, a YS leader and meat packer in Chicago."

"We've gone past our goals in the campaign and have adopted paper delivery routes for co-workers and others who choose to get their subscription that way," writes Francisco Picado from Minnesota. "We saw the potential that having a paper delivery service opens up for our political work in the workers district here. In fact, a couple of the subscriptions we sold to co-workers at the meatpacking plants this past week will be the first ones on our paper route in St. Paul."

Over the past weeks the Militant has received consistent, almost daily reports from socialists who work in meatpacking plants. Their approach appears to be paying off as they are closing in on their Militant goal and have surpassed their target for PM. In Detroit two young meat packers bought subscriptions in the plant where Osborne Hart works. One of the workers had heard about Hart's campaign as the Socialist Workers candidate for mayor and asked him for some campaign literature. After reading it and talking some more he bought the subscription, and now plans to attend the next Militant Labor Forum. "We are targeting two more co-workers who expressed some interest in the paper earlier in the campaign," says Hart.

"In our drive to make our goals this week we set up literature tables on campus and in our workers district where we also went door to door," writes Jacquie Henderson from Houston. "We also called people we had met in previous weeks and made arrangements to pick up subscriptions from co-workers we had discussed politics with for the past several weeks. As a result we ended up going over our Militant goal by five!"  
 
Students interested in free speech fight
Henderson said when they went to the University of Houston they met students who wanted to know more about the case of Mike Italie, the socialist worker in Miami fired from his job for expressing his opposition to the imperialist war in Afghanistan, defense of the Cuban Revolution, and other political views. "We sold Pathfinder books and two subscriptions there, along with several copies of the Militant," she notes. One student who bought a subscription also got a copy of New International no. 7, which features the article "Opening Guns of Work War III: Wash-ington's Assault on Iraq."

Henderson writes that they sold three Militant subscriptions and another copy of the same issue of New International at Houston Community College. "As at the University of Houston, we found a lot of interest in our new class series on this issue of New International, and others we have scheduled on nos. 10 and 11 of the Marxist magazine. Several students also signed our petition to protest the firing of Mike Italie."

Tony Dutrow from Houston reports that a co-worker who recently subscribed to PM especially likes its coverage of Cuba. The meat packer told Dutrow that he has been interested in the Cuban Revolution since he met Cuban agricultural teachers in the rural area of Mexico that he comes from.  
 
Using sales drive for recruitment
"This past Sunday a young Dominican worker joined with us selling at our literature table," reports Ruth Harris from Upper Manhattan. "We met him earlier in the campaign when he bought a subscription to the Militant, started coming to Militant Labor Forums, and participating in a class series we have been doing on NI no. 7. All of this helped him decide to join the Young Socialists.

"Tonight we made our goal of selling 65 Militant subscriptions," adds Harris. "We were helped by another Dominican worker whom we met during the last subscription campaign. He renewed his Militant subscription and has started coming to Militant Labor Forums. One campaign supporter sold two subscriptions to co-workers. Over the last 10 days, we have sold 25 Militant subscriptions, eight PM subscriptions, and three copies of New International."

Rollande Girard reports that partisans of the socialist press in San Francisco joined a November 18 march to defend immigrants' rights in Oakland, California. "Around 120 people, mostly of Mexican origin, participated in the action. The protest demanded the right to a driver's license, to a social security card, and for the legalization of all the workers. It also called for an end to police brutality and the unjustified imprisonment of immigrants. Another march and meeting are planned for November 24 in Hayward, California."

Girard adds that they sold three subscriptions to PM, a copy of Nueva Internacional no. 5, which contains the article "U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War," and the pamphlet, The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning.  
 
 
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