Vol. 76/No. 35      October 1, 2012

The following statement was sent to the Socialist Workers campaign by two workers in Yakima, Wash.—Robert Beal, a rangeland erosion laborer, and Iselda Acosta, a nurse. Both are members of Occupy Yakima.

Earlier this month Yakima, Washington, had a great visit from several members of the Socialist Workers Party, including their vice presidential candidate, welder Maura DeLuca, and their Washington gubernatorial candidate, temporary factory worker Mary Martin. Their “delegation” spent part of their day at a Del Monte food processing plant and had a chance to speak with many of the Teamster workers there.

At a meet-the-candidates gathering, Maura told us that championing legalization of undocumented workers is a life-or-death issue for the U.S. working class.

The SWP can be an important ally and offer a foundational perspective in the fight for economic and social justice for Yakima Valley workers. SWP activists and candidates have a lifetime commitment not just to workers but to being workers. They operate face-to-face with simple messages, knocking on doors, distributing literature like the Militant newspaper and books such as The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning, and standing in solidarity at fights against workplace repression worldwide.

We will write in Mary Martin for Governor of Washington and John Naubert (who staffed the booth next to ours at the May Day march in Yakima) for U.S. Senator and vote for the SWP presidential and vice presidential candidates James Harris and Maura DeLuca.

Robert Beal
Iselda Acosta