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Vol. 72/No. 18      May 5, 2008

 
‘Skip class and work—Celebrate May Day!’
(Young Socialists in Action column)
 
BY BEN O’SHAUGHNESSY  
With less than a week until May Day, young socialists around the country are gearing up to join thousands of workers at marches and rallies to demand legalization for all undocumented immigrants. Many are not going to work or school and are encouraging others to join them in the streets to reclaim May 1 as a workers’ holiday in the United States.

“I am telling others to skip class and work,” said Aaron Bleich, a member of the Socialist Club at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. “Let’s celebrate like it’s supposed to be, as a holiday for workers.”

On April 24 Bleich will speak on a panel at Iowa State with Mary-Alice Waters, president of Pathfinder Press, and others on the book Our History Is Still Being Written: The Story of Three Chinese-Cuban Generals in the Cuban Revolution. Bleich and other young socialists have also been building actions for May 1 in Chicago and St. Paul, Minnesota.

“We have been promoting the action in St. Paul with the May Day coalition here,” said Rebecca Williamson, a spokesperson for the Young Socialists for Calero and Kennedy. Róger Calero is the Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. president. Alyson Kennedy is his running mate.

Williamson is also a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 789 at Dakota Premium Foods in South St. Paul. Workers at her plant are currently in a fight with the company for a new contract. Williamson explained that the local will have a contingent at the May 1 immigrant rights march.

“On the job, we have been explaining that this isn’t just a question for immigrants, but for all workers,” said Williamson. “The bosses try to use immigrant labor to divide us and weaken our ability to fight. The struggle at Dakota Premium Foods has shown what is possible when workers overcome these divisions and fight in our class interests.”

Young socialists for Calero and Kennedy in New York City are aiming to help sell hundreds of copies of the new Pathfinder pamphlet Is Socialist Revolution in the U.S. Possible? during the special campaign week. They have been active in building the May Day demonstrations in Union Square and in Hempstead, Long Island.

Robert Silver contributed to this column.
 
 
Related articles:
No work or school on May Day! Legalization for all immigrants!
Houston rally protests ICE raids, builds May Day action
May Day actions for immigrant rights
Chicago picket: ‘Stop the raids and deportations!’  
 
 
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