Vol. 79/No. 46      December 21, 2015

 

25, 50, and 75 Years Ago

 

December 21, 1990

Four days after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Washington began a brutal embargo against Iraq. Not even during the height of the war in Vietnam nor during the 1950-53 war against the people of Korea did Washington impose such a complete air, sea, and land blockade. This act amounts to a declaration of war against the people of Iraq and Kuwait and the hundreds of thousands from other countries who have been stranded there since the invasion.

The UN Security Council adopted a U.S.-backed resolution banning trade or any financial undertakings with Iraq or occupied Kuwait. Despite objections from representatives of the Cuban and Yemeni governments at the United Nations, Washington made sure the embargo included foodstuffs and medicines.

December 20, 1965

NEW YORK — E.D. Nixon, organizer of the Montgomery bus boycott, was guest of honor here Dec. 11 at a dinner celebrating the tenth anniversary of that historic civil rights struggle. It was sponsored by the Militant Labor Forum.

Farrell Dobbs, National Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party, was toastmaster. Dobbs paid tribute to E. D. Nixon as “a pioneer leader in the freedom struggle in the South.”

He told the audience: “This weekend in Montgomery, the tenth anniversary of the boycott is being celebrated. But unfortunately Mr. Nixon was not included in the program. We of the Militant Labor Forum felt that he should be included, that he before all others should be recognized as the pioneer, the founding leader, the initiator, the spark plug and principal man of the hour in the battle.”

December 21, 1940

DETROIT, Dec. 16 — With 40 UAW-CIO organizers concentrating all their energies on a drive to organize the Ford Motor company, and with a union publicity campaign which has succeeded in hitting all the front pages, reports from reliable union sources indicate that Ford workers are joining the UAW by the thousands.

The UAW now has a great opportunity to break the notorious Ford open shop once and for all. Union sentiment is sweeping the ranks of Ford workers in a mighty wave. Ford has shown his anti-union policy again by refusing to consent to an NLRB vote.

A successful Ford drive would lead to a rebirth of union action in all auto plants, would pave the way to establishing the closed shop in auto as a whole.  
 
 
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