Alyson Kennedy addresses oil workers union

Militant/Mitchel Rosenberg

PHILADELPHIA — Alyson Kennedy, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. president, addressed some 30 members of United Steelworkers Local 10-1 here after their Oct. 20 union meeting. She expressed solidarity with the local against concessions demanded by CEO Philip Rinaldi on behalf of the owners of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery. Rinaldi sent a letter to Steelworkers members and nonunion employees Sept. 7 announcing a 50 percent increase in health care costs and the freezing of pensions, both violations of the USW contract.

Kennedy talked about her experiences as a coal miner and member of the United Mine Workers of America, and some of the lessons she learned fighting off attacks by the coal operators. “The capitalist candidates have no solution to the deepening crisis stemming from their falling rate of profit,” she said. “So they attempt to squeeze more from workers and conduct their wars to control markets around the world.”

Following her talk, Kennedy and campaign supporters joined USW members for pizza. Three workers got copies of Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? to learn more about the party’s program.

— MITCHEL ROSENBERG