Vol. 74/No. 24 June 21, 2010
Two years ago the company had a large layoff. They recently called everyone back and began hiring temporary workers, who make about one-third less than the permanent workers and receive no benefits.
One coworker who bought the book was brought back as a temporary along with many others who used to be permanent before they were laid off. After a short discussion she said she agreed on the need for “some kind of massive movement to get at the root” of the deteriorating conditions workers face. Another who got the book is second generation at the plant. Both of his parents worked there for 32 years and came from the southern states.
A Mexican coworker bought the book in Spanish along with a subscription to the Militant. She had recently participated in a protest at a detention center that holds immigrant workers awaiting deportation. One young Black worker who bought the book brings it to work to read on breaks.
—Laura Anderson
and Alyson Kennedy
Houston
We sold 12 copies of Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power at the 3rd Annual National Black Book Festival here in Houston May 22-23.
Participants purchased a dozen other Pathfinder books, from the Communist Manifesto to W.E.B. DuBois Speaks. We also sold three subscriptions to the Militant and 11 single copies of the paper.
A young oil worker from Lake Charles, Louisiana, picked up four books, including Workers Power, along with a subscription to the Militant. “Now I’m glad I came here!” he remarked, explaining that he ended up at the festival almost by accident while attending a sports event in Houston.
Among the people who said they wanted to purchase books from the Pathfinder Press Web site were several Houston-area school teachers. Two of these women picked up Women and the Cuban Revolution, saying that this is just what they were talking about.
—Jacquie Henderson
Related articles:
French edition of ‘Workers Power’ book is out
Store orders for Pathfinder up
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