December 6, 1999
In the coal fields today miners are fighting against bosses attempts to gut the lifetime health benefits they won in struggle. Truck drivers are walking the picket lines to win a union at the largest nonunion trucking company in the U.S. Working farmers are seeking ways to resist being forced off the land. Puerto Ricans are mobilizing to demand the U.S. military stop using the island of Vieques as a bombing practice zone.
These battles are examples of the new proletarian movement that has begun to rise in the city and countryside.
There is plenty of evidence of the world disorder of capitalism. Imperialist governments are preparing for more military and other conflicts and all try to pull working people in behind this course. But the number one enemy of workers is the ruling class in our own country; in the U.S. workers’ enemy is Washington.
December 6, 1974
The Houston Independent School District is on a campaign to track down Mexican-born schoolchildren who are in the U.S. “illegally.” Children who are found to be noncitizens or to lack residency papers are being forced to pay $66 a month to remain in school. This has resulted in some families withdrawing their children from school.
Families “suspected” of being “illegals” are being visited by school officials. In some cases these officials can’t speak Spanish. Families have been confronted with the repeated demand, “Passport! Passport!”
The attacks against undocumented workers promise to increase as they are made scapegoats for the deepening economic crisis. The attacks on the schoolchildren point to the increasing importance of the “illegal alien” issue and the need for redoubled opposition to these attacks on families without documents.
December 5, 1949
Two major events last week served to point up the precarious character of the “stabilization” achieved under the Marshall Plan in Western Europe. One was the 24-hour general strike in France, the other the resurgence of land seizures by poor peasants in Italy.
The strike call was the first genuine French general strike in 12 years. The action was merely a warning of things to come, if a substantial upward adjustment in wages is not forthcoming. The universal response showed the power of united action sentiment among the workers.
In Italy land hunger has characterized the peasantry for decades. The fall of Mussolini and the turbulent postwar years witnessed a widespread movement for the seizure of the landed estates by the peasants. Land seizures have once again taken on the aspect of a large scale movement, particularly in southern Italy.