Over the course of the 12-week campaign, socialist workers and young socialists sold 1,098 subscriptions to the Militant, 105 percent of the international goal; 482 subscriptions to Perspectiva Mundial, or 105 percent of the goal, and 543 copies of Cuba and the Coming American Revolution, at 87 percent of the goal.

On the job, communist workers took advantage of the two-week extension of the drive to expand the number of industrial workers who are reading the revolutionary press, laying a solid basis for deepening their political work among co-workers and fel low unionists. Their efforts were reinforced by sales outside their workplaces, that if continued each week, will net more subscriptions, readers of Pathfinder books, participants in the weekly Militant Labor Forums, and workers who are interested in joining the communist movement.

In several cities socialist workers at a plant joined teams selling the two papers at the plant gate. Becky Ellis in Twin Cities, Minnesota, reports that one such team sold three subscriptions to Perspectiva Mundial over several weeks at Dakota Premium Foods, where workers recently voted in the United Food and Commercial Workers union and are fighting for a contract.

In Chicago, Joel Britton reports that in the last couple of weeks a well-known socialist worker at a UNITE-organized plant has joined the plant gate team. By adding a communist literature table to the sale the team has generated more interest from workers, including discussion in the plant that socialists inside are able to follow up on.

In New York’s garment district, socialists sold a Militant and six Perspectiva Mundial subscriptions at plant gates, as well as a copy of Cuba and the Coming American Revolution. In the Pennsylvania and West Virginia coalfields, several miners decided on the spot to buy a subscription after meeting socialists in front of their mine portal.

Supporters of the socialist press can now build on their successes by following up with new readers to make sure they are receiving the paper each week, find out what they think about the publications, and introduce them to books that draw on the lessons of more than 150 years of the modern class struggle and in learning more about the communist movement.

In addition to sales on the job, branches of the Socialist Workers Party and the Communist Leagues increased the readership of the two periodicals through regular literature tables and door-to-door sales in the workers districts where their headquarters are located.

One way to build on these sales is by expanding the weekly Militant paper routes in the workers districts, in which the periodicals are delivered rather than sent through the mail. Delivering the paper each week puts local supporters of the paper in direct contact with readers, provides a way to build the weekly forums, and expand knowledge of the Pathfinder bookstore.

Socialists in Omaha and Miami have found paper routes to be a helpful tool, especially in the garment shops and meatpacking plants they work in. In Omaha, 12 people get Perpectiva Mundial delivered by hand. In Miami, five get the Militant the same way.

On July 16, socialists from western Colorado, New York, and Birmingham converged to sell the press and books in coal communities and mine portals in Alabama. On their first day they sold a paper at the Pittsburg and Midway North River mine and another five going door-to-door in the working-class neighborhood near the Pathfinder bookstore in Birmingham.

Each week the Militant has run stories of efforts to sell the socialist press. Below is a story based on work among strikers locked in a bitter battle with the antiunion Navistar International in Canada. We encourage others to write short sales articles, particularly about sales on the job and at factory plant gates.
 

BY ILONA GERSH  
CHATHAM, Ontario --The Militant was a big hit among members of the Canadian Auto Workers union on strike against Navistar International here.

The latest issue of the paper that we expected to arrive did not make it through the bureaucracy of Canadian customs in time, so supporters in Toronto printed the latest article on the strike from themilitant.com and collected together some old Militant issues.

Strikers on the picket lines and at the union hall snapped up the copies of the article and the half dozen two- and three-week-old issues.

"I think the Militant has written excellent articles on our strike," said Ken Burke, a striker who is compiling a photo scrapbook of their fight. "I have themilitant.com on my ‘Favorites’ list."

A small city of 40,000 people, Chatham is very polarized. The strike has a lot of strong support, but some people have bought into the company’s antiunion propaganda. Militant supporters took to the streets during our visit and sold two subscriptions and six copies of the paper.  
 
 
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