“I am sending $780 of ‘blood money’ to the Socialist Workers Party from a retroactive pay raise we got under the recently signed new rail contract at Norfolk Southern,” Linda Armstrong wrote March 2. Bosses use bonuses and other payouts like Armstrong got as bribes — or “blood money,” as she says.
SWP members and others turn this money over to the party to help build the working-class movement. They also discuss with co-workers how the employers seek to weaken the workers and their unions. And they ask workers to join with them in giving such bonuses to the SWP.
“The lure of the back pay was one of the main things that was supposed to win over workers to vote for the contract,” Armstrong said. “The union officials needed something like this to get votes, because there was no real fight organized to push back the cuts that the bosses demanded.
“Many here voted against the contract. The cost of health care rose significantly for many, and most workers think the raise wasn’t enough,” Armstrong said. “In general, people are sick of being treated like dirt; of bosses blaming us for the deteriorating job conditions and increasing safety hazards; and of how we are spoken to on a daily basis.”
If your boss gives you some blood money and you want to use it to advance the fight for “dignity and safer conditions” of the working class, Armstrong said, give it to the party. Contact the SWP branch nearest you, listed on page 8.