Vol. 77/No. 35      October 7, 2013

Harris was talking with socialist workers Carl Tyler, Jacquie Henderson and Jacob Perasso at his home in south Omaha, Sept. 17. Socialists in the area have been broadening door-to-door efforts to win Militant readers, including re-knocking on the doors of those whose subscriptions have recently lapsed. In the process, they’ve been talking about plans to rapidly set up a hall and establish a branch of the Socialist Workers Party here. And they’ve been spreading the word through events like the Labor Day parade and Mexican Independence Day celebrations.

“We are looking to rent a place where workers from all over the area can come discuss how working people like us — here in the U.S. and around the world — can organize to defend ourselves against the bosses, who are taking out the crisis of capitalism on our backs,” Perasso told Harris.

“We will use the hall to organize Militant Labor Forums and other public events,” Perasso said. “It will also be a place where books like this will be available to study, where workers can get copies of the Militant to read and circulate. And from where we will launch a Socialist Workers Party ticket and campaign with candidates who will bring a working-class voice to the 2014 elections.”

Raising funds and finalizing a location that is comfortable and accessible for workers from all over the city is a top priority for socialist workers here. “This workers’ center will be 100 percent financed by working people like you,” said Perasso.

“This book is about our real history,” Tyler, a longtime Omaha resident and warehouse worker, told Harris, pointing to Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power by SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes. “It’s about the dictatorship of capital and the road forward for the working class,” he said.

“The problem is capitalism,” Tyler said. “The harder you work, the more money the capitalists make, but you never get ahead. And now if you go to school, you end up not only a wage slave, but a slave to debt too,” said Tyler.

“That’s my life,” Harris responded. “It seems going to school just put me further behind.”

“And they try to set us all against each other,” said Tyler. “Look at the three of us here. We are all different ages and backgrounds. Workers need to get rid of mistrusts and find ways to unite in struggle.”

“That’s why we campaign on the need for workers to fight for a massive public works program to put millions to work at union wages as a way to strengthen the solidarity and confidence of workers,” said Perasso. “They say the bridges are falling apart, but there is no money to rebuild them. The same goes for hospitals, housing and other things workers need, like child care centers. At the same time, millions of us are competing for fewer jobs.”

“I’m not for us going over to Syria,” said Harris, pointing to the Militant’s coverage on the imperialist war threats against Syria and the grinding civil war there.

The U.S. rulers threatening Syria are the enemies of working people both there and here at home, said Perasso. The “we” is the working class worldwide against the capitalist exploiters. In Syria, fellow workers face the repressive and brutal government of Bashar al-Assad.

Harris renewed his Militant subscription and asked the three to come back after payday so that he can get Workers Power.

“Get that headquarters. We need it,” Gustavo García, a worker with decades of experience in Omaha packinghouses, told David Alvarez and Jacquie Henderson when they visited him at his home. “Workers will come wherever it’s at in the city because we need it. We will be there.” He gave $20 toward the effort. García also offered to help with any work to set up the hall and said he thought some of his friends might want to help with construction, plumbing and other needs.

Evelina León, 29, has joined other Militant supporters visiting working people on their doorsteps and looking for a hall.

“Workers need it for ourselves,” she said. “We need to be united to make a change, participating together. I like to sell the paper and books. There’s a lot I learn going door to door. All of us look at how the situation is and you can see the party helping and explaining.”

If you would like to make a contribution to this effort, please send it to SWP, P.O. Box 7908, Omaha, NE 68107. Several thousand dollars are needed to secure a hall and purchase basic equipment, furniture and books to get set up.  
 
 
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