editorial

All out in solidarity with striking copper workers!

December 16, 2019

A battle with real stakes for all working people is playing out today in the copper towns of Arizona and Texas. Asarco workers are fighting a naked union-busting assault by bosses — they need our solidarity. Build support for their struggle!

Every fight working people wage — whether it’s a strike picket or public protest — needs working-class solidarity, a mighty weapon we can wield against bosses and their government, who think they are all-powerful. Like capitalists everywhere, who hold down our wages and dump the crisis of their system on our backs, Asarco’s bosses misjudge what workers are capable of when we stand up for ourselves and fight together.

They refuse to talk to the union. They believe they can go “one day longer,” by organizing strikebreakers and unilaterally imposing their union-busting contract. We should respond with a drive to expand solidarity with the miners’ fight, by workers and unions across the country and beyond.

The bosses count on keeping us divided. They tell us just to watch out for number one. But we are a class — the working class — with common interests against the bosses, their Democratic and Republican parties, and their government.

The unity and courage the miners are showing on the picket line can be multiplied and reinforced with support from other workers. All workers have a stake in this fight. Tell your family, co-workers and friends, urge them to add their backing, send messages of support and bring aid to the picket lines. Join and use the Militant to get out the truth about this struggle.

Mobilizing solidarity also strengthens those who offer their support. It’s a step towards building the kind of fighting labor movement we need, one that organizes independently and relies on itself to defend the interests of all workers. And whose struggles build self-confidence and class consciousness.

Bring to bear the power of working-class solidarity!