"The fight against my firing and to defend workers' rights," the socialist said, "has been part of this resistance by working people against the deepening disorder of world capitalism."

The Committee to Defend Freedom of Speech and the Bill of Rights sponsored the meeting, which drew 20 people to the Dessalines Community Center in the Little Haiti section of Miami. The event celebrated the gains won by Italie and his supporters through the seven-month fight against his firing by Goodwill Industries last October as the U.S. rulers accelerated their assault on working people at home and abroad in the wake of the September 11 events. Touring North America, Italie was able to speak to thousands of people across the United States and Canada and join with many workers who were standing up to the firings, intimidation, and attacks on the job by the bosses and U.S. government.

Kay Sedam, a rail worker and treasurer of the committee, chaired the meeting and pointed to the large map in the back of the room that pinpointed the more than 40 cities Italie visited as part of the campaign in defense of workers' rights.

Italie was the Socialist Workers candidate for mayor of Miami in the November 2001 election. On October 22 Goodwill Industries of South Florida fired him from his job as a sewing machine operator after he spoke out in a televised debate against the U.S. war in Afghanistan and in defense of the Cuban Revolution. The Goodwill bosses told Italie that "because of your views of the U.S. government, which are contrary to those of this agency, you cannot work here anymore."

Joining Italie in discussing the continuing struggle for workers' rights was Leonor Garcia, a garment worker, who was among the first to join in the fight against the firing. Speaking in Spanish, Garcia, who is from Argentina, explained: "I work in the garment industry and I am in solidarity with Mike. When I heard of his situation it was hard for me to believe that an American could be fired for his political ideas in a country that is supposedly 'democratic' and where workers have a lot of rights. This made me think that if an American can be fired for his political ideas, what awaits undocumented workers in this country?"

"That's why it's so important," she said, "to devote ourselves to unite in every kind of work and place. As a garment worker who has worked in three different workplaces I have seen many injustices. And I've also seen that many of my co-workers are afraid and don't know how to fight against the exploitation we find ourselves subjected to. I know that lawyers don't have the laws to defend workers very well. But it would be good if lawyers could defend exploited workers instead of state interests. Mike gave us an example."

Ray Taseff, an attorney and member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), spoke about Italie's victory over Goodwill's challenge to his unemployment benefits. Taseff represented Italie in this fight.

"I wish I could take credit for forcing Goodwill to back down," Taseff said. "The fact is I never got to a hearing. They stopped before that. I believe Goodwill didn't want to give Mike another opportunity to expose their hypocrisy." Taseff said the ACLU will host a forum on civil liberties on July 18 at Books and Books in Coral Gables where Italie will be one of the featured speakers.

Also speaking at the event was Jóse Martínez, a truck driver and member of Alianza Martíana, an organization made up largely of Cuban Americans who fight to demand the U.S. government normalize relations with Cuba. He spoke about the five Cuban revolutionaries framed up by Washington who are serving long prison sentences in U.S. jails.

"The stories of the five young compañeros who have been jailed," Martínez said, "are part of the struggle of the Cuban people for decades to defend their sovereignty and defend themselves. The five infiltrated counterrevolutionary terrorist organizations in the Miami area in order to prevent crimes and assassinations against the Cuban people and their leadership. Despite having no proof of espionage," he said, "the five were convicted. Michael and the five Cubans are examples for us of those who will not stop fighting."  
 
'Effective way to fight imperialism'
Lawrence Mishek, a meat packer and leader of the Young Socialists, pointed out that "the fight to defend Michael Italie was one of the most effective ways to fight the imperialist war in Afghanistan. Italie was able to speak at three high schools and eight college campuses around the country, in addition to meeting with meat packers and other workers to discuss their developing battles. The May 3 union victory of meat packers in Omaha shows that the resistance continues."

Mishek read a recent letter of solidarity from meat packers in Omaha to the imprisoned Cubans and the responses from the five. The exchange is an example of links formed in struggle between working people that have inspired youth to join the revolutionary socialist movement.

Italie explained that he was fired by Goodwill at the height of the imperialists' "war on terrorism," whose purpose was to break workers' will to resist the devastating consequences of the capitalist economic crisis. "While the 'anti-terrorism' scare of the bosses did have some effect," said Italie, "I learned in the course of this fight that the impact was superficial from the beginning. Seven months later it has run its course."

In December 2001 the socialist candidate visited the picket lines of 5,000 members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) in Connecticut who had just gone on strike against aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt and Whitney. Italie pointed out that "these strikers proudly told me of how they stood up to company tricks to undermine the strike. The bosses said, 'you can't go on strike, there's a war going on.' But the strike remained solid and the strikers pushed back company takeback demands. In the course of talking to the pickets about our common struggles," he said, "each of the nine unionists I talked to signed a petition calling for Goodwill to reverse my unjust firing."  
 
'Immigrants haven't backed down'
Key goals of the imperialists' assault on working people was to intimidate immigrant workers, Italie said. The bosses hoped immigrants in the United States would bow to the bosses' demands under threat of arrest and deportation. They also sought to drive a wedge between workers in struggle in the United States and the Palestinian and Arab national liberation struggles.

"Meat packers in the Midwest, who are largely immigrants," Italie said, "have not weakened in their determination to fight against the bosses. Immigrants I met from Omaha to Minneapolis have played a central role in union-organizing efforts, and are not allowing the bipartisan offensive to break their will to fight. And just two weeks ago 75,000 people turned out in Washington for a rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people, by far the largest of its kind in U.S. history. The 'war on terrorism' has lost its political punch as a tool for the imperialists."

The program concluded with the reading of statements of support from some of the fighters Italie had met over the course of his national tour. They included Juan Serrano, a meat packer fired during a strike against Washington Beef in Spokane, Washington; Alia Atawneh, a Palestinian woman living in San Francisco who was fired at Macy's when she didn't back down in the face of anti-Arab comments by customers; and Ian Harvey, a high school teacher from Naples, Florida, who was transferred out of his teaching position because he helped organize protests against the U.S. war in Afghanistan that involved several of his students.

Afterwards many of the participants gathered for a party to relax and celebrate the gains of this important struggle to defend workers' rights and freedom of speech.
 

On a visit to Massachusetts April 18-21 Italie spoke with workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was interviewed on a local radio station about his case by Jose Balbuena, who then hosted an event at the Nobel bookstore which he owns. Some half dozen people, mostly workers from nearby Malden Mills, came to the program. Many had heard about the case from two workers circulating a petition to support Italie's fight for his job. More than two dozen workers signed the petition.

Italie also spoke at Milton Academy, a private high school school, where many students live in dorms on the campus. One person asked was whether the right to privacy extended to students like them. They had recently been subjected to unannounced inspections by school officials demanding the students exit their rooms so a search for contraband items could be made. Many students were outraged and wanted to know if they could fight this.

Several dozen people came to hear Italie speak at the Zumix community music center in East Boston. He was greeted by Edgar Barrios, who was involved in a struggle of janitors at Harvard University. Barrios told Italie, "They wanted to silence you but they ended up making you more well-known."  
 
 
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