Vol. 75/No. 39      October 31, 2011

On October 12 thousands of working people in Alabama took a stand for our class when they went on strike for one day in poultry plants and other work sites to protest the state’s new anti-immigrant law. They are fighting to be able to work, send their kids to school and walk the streets without the fear of being arrested or deported.

This law—and others like it—is part of a broader assault by the bosses’ government in Washington to intimidate immigrant workers and maintain their second-class status.

The White House has stepped up use of local police as immigration cops and checking workers’ “status” at their place of employment. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton bragged October 18 that the agency forcibly deported nearly 400,000 immigrants last year, a record number.

The exploiting class is assaulting our unity and solidarity on many fronts. Their stepped-up attacks on those of us without “proper papers” is key to this offensive.

The target is all working people. Just as they use the lever of high and persistent unemployment they scapegoat the foreign born, to pit worker against worker. The aim is to weaken our capacity to mount an effective fight against their drive to foist the burden of their economic crisis on our backs and to intensify the rate of exploitation across the board.

It’s not immigrants vs. U.S.-born. It’s the boss class, the capitalist class, backed up by their army, their cops, and their courts, on one side. On the other side stands the working class, working farmers, and our allies—representing the overwhelming majority of society.

The Militant has been reporting on fights against employer assaults across the country: sugar workers locked out by American Crystal in the Red River Valley, longshore workers fighting union busting in Washington state, coal miners fighting to organize in Illinois, autoworkers refusing concessions at Oshkosh in Wisconsin, locked out Steelworkers in Pennsylvania, Honeywell workers in Kansas City, Mo. The list keeps growing.

These battles—from Alabama to the Midwest—are at the center of politics in the U.S. today. They are part of our class gaining fighting experience, seeking and giving solidarity to all those targeted under the capitalist offensive, learning to place our struggles onto a broader social plane, and beginning to see ourselves as workers of the world.

The union movement must take up the banner against all forms of exploitation and oppression. Championing the fight of immigrant workers—who have proven a combative section of our class and whose breadth of experience strengthens our ranks—is a life and death question for labor.

Legalization for undocumented workers now! Extend solidarity to all those in struggle against the common enemy! An injury to one is an injury to all!
 
 
Related articles:
Immigrants stand up to Alabama antiworker law
1-day strike hits plants, schools in parts of state  
 
 
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