When the miners—almost all of whom are immigrants from Mexico—first went on strike, Mailhot noted, most had little experience in the U.S. labor movement, and weren’t sure what to expect or whether they would get any support. Since then, they have gained support from the UMWA (United Mine Workers of America), other unions in Utah, immigrant rights activists, and others. “We have gone from fear to confidence,” one striker told Mailhot on a recent visit to the picket line.

“The solidarity committee in Salt Lake City, which involves union members who work in steel and at oil refineries, students, and church members, is an example of the kind of broad support that can be won for this struggle around the country,” Mailhot said.

Socialist unionists at the meeting work in garment and textile plants, many organized by UNITE, in cities across the country from Boston to Seattle to Birmingham, Alabama. The majority of the members of the party’s national UNITE fraction are sewing machine operators, the registration of an important advance after several years of work—collective and individual—to master the skills needed to hold jobs in the heart of the garment industry.

Jacquie Henderson, who works as a sewing machine operator in a nonunion garment shop in Houston, spoke about some of the strike solidarity efforts she is part of in that city. “We are circulating a holiday greeting card of support in our shop for the Co-Op strikers,” Henderson said, “and are asking for donations for the strike fund.” Eighteen co-workers signed the card and contributed $40, Henderson reported. People who were involved in the successful fight earlier this year to prevent the deportation of Militant staff writer Róger Calero, along with anti-police brutality activists, are among those involved in the strike solidarity activities in Houston.

Mary Martin, who works in a nonunion upholstery shop near Des Moines, Iowa, had a similar experience circulating a card and getting donations for the strike fund from her co-workers. “And in Des Moines, activists from the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride in October are interested in the Co-Op miners’ fight,” she reported.

“The challenge is not only to win solidarity from our co-workers,” said Angel Lariscy, a sewing machine operator in Newark, New Jersey. “We also need to gain support for this fight from our union.”

Chris Remple, a garment worker at a UNITE-organized sewing plant near Pittsburgh, was part of winning union support for sending a solidarity message from his shop. Solidarity efforts for coal miners and the Black Lung Association have always gotten a good response from union members in this plant, said Remple.

Maggie Trowe, a sewing machine operator and UNITE member from Boston, gave a report on the importance of strengthening the organized presence of socialist workers in UNITE in New York City.

The socialist unionists met in the heart of New York’s garment district, where some 9,000 workers are employed in hundreds of shops, several dozens of which are organized by UNITE. “New York City is the heart of UNITE,” Trowe said. “UNITE officials report that there are at least 7,000 garment workers organized in the union, in addition to 4,000 laundry workers and others organized by UNITE. The union organizes about 350 shops throughout the city. In New York as whole, there are 33,000 apparel workers, making garment the largest manufacturing industry in New York City. Apparel workers’ labor adds more than $4 billion in value to inputs each year,” Trowe said. New York is the national headquarters of UNITE, and the union has an active political life in the city, including organizing drives, participating in immigrant rights actions, supporting other union struggles, and backing women’s rights fights. “UNITE has a multinational membership, with many workers who have had class-struggle and union experience in other countries bringing that experience into the union here,” Trowe said. “We can win some of these fellow workers to the Socialist Workers Party and Young Socialists.”

“Hundreds of UNITE members, many New York garment workers, created a sea of red shirts at the rally for the Yale strikers in New Haven, Connecticut, in September,” Trowe said. “More than 2,000 formed one of the largest contingents at the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride rally in Flushing Meadows October 4.”

At the end of November, Trowe reported, more than 100 UNITE-organized laundry workers walked off the job at Jung Sun, a large industrial laundry in Queens. Nine hours later the company agreed to the industry-wide contract that UNITE members have won at 36 other laundries employing some 4,000 workers.

The importance of basing the socialist movement’s national UNITE fraction in New York City was underscored in the discussion by reports on the new Pathfinder bookstore now under construction in the Garment District here. A 10-week construction project has started to ready the offices, and socialist garment and textile workers signed up at the meeting to join other volunteers on the project over the next two months.

Susan LaMont is a sewing machine operator in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
 
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Socialist workers in UMWA, UNITE focus on campaign for solidarity with Utah miners  
 
 
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