October 25, 1999
MONTREAL — Owner-operator truck drivers began taking actions across Quebec the week of Oct. 2 in support of their right to unionize and negotiate their working conditions collectively. They voted Oct. 10 to defy an injunction ordering them to put an end to any “picket lines, assemblies, demonstrations or any roadblocks . . . that limit or prevent the free circulation of goods and services.”
The strikers’ main demand is for a decent hourly rate as opposed to being paid by the mile. Other demands include eight hours sleeping time per day when on long hauls, a maximum 10-hour working day, paid statutory holidays, and one month of vacation per year.
In Montreal, the truckers have parked their vehicles at the port and at two railway yards. They are working with the longshoremen’s union and the railway unions to prevent the transportation of goods.
October 25, 1974
BOSTON — “The Socialist Workers Party is unconditionally for the right of Black students to attend any school they choose. This includes the right to utilize busing,” declared Donald Gurewitz, SWP candidate for governor of Massachusetts, in a statement aired over Channel 2 TV.
“We demand the immediate implementation of the court desegregation order and we demand that President Ford immediately dispatch federal troops to Boston to protect the rights of Black students.”
The Massachusetts SWP campaign has launched a drive to publicize the truth about the racist offensive here and to defend the rights and safety of Black students. Socialist campaign supporters around the country are also stepping up distribution of The Militant to help expose the real extent of the racist onslaught in Boston and the inaction of federal and state officials.
October 24, 1949
Friday, Oct. 14, 1949, will go down as a black-letter day for civil rights in America. The conviction of 11 Communist Party leaders struck a hammer-blow against the democratic liberties of the whole working-class and gives a green light to the government witch-hunters, the book-burners, all the storm troops of reaction.
The entire case was based on the Smith Act of 1940, which is a brazen violation of the Bill of Rights, and particularly of the First Amendment which forbids Congress to make any laws abridging freedom of speech or press. This law was first used against the Socialist Workers Party and Minneapolis CIO Teamsters Local 544 in 1941.
We call for a nation-wide fight for repeal of the Smith Act and all other anti-democratic laws. Demand the revocation of the presidential order establishing the “subversive” list and the “loyalty” purge.