July 30
- `I know you're sorry Maryann died before you suspended her!'
- What Kind of Sick System Is This?
- Not Fighting Back Is Suicide
- You Have To Join The Party
- Cook County Hospital--Bosses Downsize Workers' Health Care
- Workers Hate Fascists in Blue
- `Those Greedy Bastards at the Top!'
- Summer Project Takes on KKK
- Views from the Summer Project
- NAACP: Pray `em Away
- Big Slavemaster Attacks Little Slavemaster
- Mark Fuhrman Award
- No Justice For Workers Under Capitalism
- LA Summer Project Hits Cop Terror
- 7 Youth Join PLP
- Old Money Whacks Pennzoil Over Getty Caper
- New Money Swatted for Sleeping with Rockefeller's Russian Rivals
- LETTERS
- Chicago bosses destroy transit
- Concentration and building a mass Party
- Selling Challenges at anti-Fujimorimarch in Lima
- Challenge articles distributed in Iran
- A communist trip to a park
- Teaching communism
- Hospital Union Bosses Divert Strike
- Doing Business with Workers' Money
- `GIs Declare War on the Army' (Overseas Weekly, 1971)
- Armed Insurrection for Communism Will Be Led By Soldiers
- Worker-Student Unity: PLP Students RejectDraft Deferment
- PLP Cut Its Teeth Organizing in the Armed Forces
- A Young Comrade Organizes in the Heart of State Power
- Black GIs Take the Lead
- `I Will Never Forget the Camaraderie of Those Days'
- When the Next War Comes, Let the Bosses Beware!
"I know you're sorry Maryann died before you suspended her!" This anonymous
note was left on boss Laura Hedman's desk, after the death of University of
Chicago Hospital worker, Maryann Coyle. Maryann's case is as tragic as they
come, a textbook case as to why we must destroy the profit system. It is a
lesson, a warning, and another reason to join the PLP! Maryann was hired less
than a year ago, as an Outpatient Services Representative in the new,
state-of-the-art $150 million Center for Advanced Medicine (`S'CAM). She was
37-year old single mom with two young children, her six-year old needed heart
surgery. She worked two part-time jobs, rarely getting more than 4-5 hours
sleep. Many nights, she would get home at 1:00 am, and return to UCH the next
morning. Boss Hedman had beaten Maryann out of holiday pay, and threatened her
with a suspension if she took any more time off to care for her sick child.
Maryann was too scared to fight back. In fact, she was scared to death. On
July 3rd, she had the worst headache of her life. She called her doctor and
made an appointment that day. One supervisor told her to go early, but she was
afraid of being suspended. She wouldn't go without permission from Hedman, who
wasn't around. She missed the appointment. None of the bosses thought to send
her to the Emergency Room. She later died from a burst blood vessel in the
brain.
This is one of the richest hospitals, on one of the richest campuses, in the
U.S. It was established by the Rockefeller family, today still the most
powerful family in the world. Yet beneath the imported Italian tiles and
waterfalls, life is hell for workers and patients. How could a worker,
surrounded by hundreds of doctors and millions of dollars of medical equipment
and medications, be neglected to death? This is the profit system, comrades,
and life is cheap. You punch in, work as hard as you can, and when you drop
dead they replace you. If they aren't making money off of you, they get rid of
you. And if you let them, they will work you to death. To make matters worse,
the billionaires are at each others' throats. From Germany to Japan, from
autos to health care, around the world, or within the U.S. , capitalism is in
crisis. The bosses are fighting each other for markets, cheap labor, and
resources. Fascism, as in Nazi Germany, is the order of the day: falling
wages, more work, and slave labor, from "welfare reform" to prison labor.
Dog-eat-dog competition is creating regional wars and civil wars around the
world. Civil war in the U.S. , and another world war, are on the horizon.
Maryann, a white worker, never knew what hit her.
The contract fight that raged from January-April, ended when the union,
Teamster Local 743 signed a contract that 75% of the members voted against. At
one stormy meeting, workers proposed a picket line at the `S'CAM. Local
president Glanton said, "We could get in trouble." While he sits in his
$115,000-a-year perch at Teamster City, we are already in trouble. If
hundreds of workers had picketed the `S'CAM, maybe Maryann would have had a
little more confidence in her co-workers, and a little less fear of Hedman.
Maybe she would be alive today. No one will escape fascism--or the coming war.
It will not pass you by. No grievance, election, contract, or constitutional
amendment will stop it. The only way out is for workers, soldiers, and youth
to build a mighty Red Army and destroy the rulers. Under communism, a sick
child will be a responsibility shared by all of us. The brutal conflicts
between the job and personal problems that we all feel today won't exist.
Most importantly, the demands of a sexist society that put Maryann in a no-win
situation will be a thing of the past. Under communism, health care will be a
need, supplied on demand, not a commodity sold like a car. Under communism
there will be no money or wages. Everything we produce, and we do produce
everything, will be distributed to the working class based on need. Wage
slavery and profits will be buried forever. And the millions of hospital
workers, like Maryann, whose job it is to check insurance coverage to make sure
the billionaires get their blood money, will have socially useful work that
allows them to contribute to their fullest potential.
The fascist bosses are grinding us up, and we ain't seen nothing yet! We will
witness horrors we never thought possible. Those of you reading these words,
who get Challenge from someone you know at work, in the barracks, or in the
community, must join the Party now! Steel, auto, and aerospace workers,
hospital, transit, and postal workers, students and youth all over the U.S. ,
and other countries, should join the Party to answer Maryann's death. While
everyone isn't ready to join the Party now, those who understand more have an
obligation to do more and lead others. Your Party, and the working class, need
you. "From all according to commitment, to all according to need." Let the
bosses tremble at the mighty working class. Let's end this week bigger than
when we started.
CHICAGO, July 15 -- "This is right on time!" That was a usual comment from the
thousands of workers who grabbed the latest edition of CCH Challenge. Several
gave donations. One nurse pulled out $7 and said, "I may not be able to come
to all your meetings but I really like what you're doing." The newsletter
attacked the bosses' downsizing campaign. They are tearing down the public
health system that has served poorer workers for most of this century. Public
health care has never been any good. It never had adequate support and is sick
with the profit system's health care methods. But, it's getting even worse.
The end of liberal capitalism and the arrival of fascism in the U.S. is clear
from the latest plans at CCH. They will change it from a large hospital which
served the poor, into a small teaching hospital for the nearby private Rush
University. The capitalists are interested in minimum health care for its wage
slaves. When their system is in crisis, they look everywhere they can to cut
expenses. That is why their profit system must be destroyed and replaced with
communism, the only system that can provide health care according to need.
Bosses' Early Retirement Scheme: A Body Blow To CCHThe wrecking balls, which
have smashed several of the old buildings at CCH, are not the only destructive
forces. Starting in September, 1,500 jobs will be eliminated through early
retirement or layoffs. Two weeks ago County Board President John (Strangle
'Em) Stroger issued a job freeze. Now, whenever someone leaves, retires,
quits, or is fired, their position is frozen, never to be replaced. This round
of layoffs also has a new twist. The bosses are going after doctors, not just
hospital workers and nurses. Doctors are expensive and they want to save some
of the big bucks they spend on their salaries. The bosses claim patients won't
be hurt by a smaller hospital since the clinics will still be open. This is a
big lie! Even now, patients wait months for new appointments and important
tests like CT scans and echocardiograms. Many workers will sicken or die as
they wait for clinic appointments, tests, medicines, operations, and
procedures. Many won't come for care because of fear of billing or lack of
co-payments. Many become frustrated after waiting for hours and then getting
sent home with little or no help. The money saved by eliminating thousands of
jobs will go to the bankers who finance the new hospital, and the construction
companies which build it. Chicago city bosses are forcing the black workers,
who live on the west side, out of their homes. The neighborhood is being
gentrified. The rich upper middle class are moving in, drawn by close
proximity to downtown, the new Bulls' United Center, new streets, and
landscaping, all courtesy of the city. By the time the brand new, pretty CCH
is built, the only poor patients let in will be those with especially
interesting diseases, or trauma which only the poor can provide to teach the
doctors. The Cook County Health Care system exists for profit hungry
capitalists: They use it to launder tax dollars for their banker, real-estate,
and construction company friends. It is a place that provides patronage jobs
for their few loyal servants. When it comes to health care, they will only
provide enough to keep the lid on a rebellion, and teach doctor trainees how to
practice medicine on poor patients, so they won't make mistakes later when they
treat the rich. They have decided that these interests are better served by a
smaller CCH. They don't base these decisions on what the workers need, they
base it on their needs. That is why we must build the communist movement to
smash their racist system. Under communism, health care will be provided to
all according to needs. If you're sick, you get care. Not like capitalism
where you only get care if you're sick and rich! Workers who took stacks of
newsletters are being struggled with to join Challenge Readers' Groups. We are
organizing into these Groups to bring communist ideas to co-workers on the job
and in the unions. These workers will join the fight against the bosses. As
the wrecking ball of capitalism destroys lives, workers are struggling to build
a new way of life, communism. u
NEW YORK CITY, July 16 -- Today, Progressive Labor Party made the "outside"
issues of racist police murder and the rise of fascism major issues in AFSCME
Local 371. When Kevin Cedeno was murdered in April of this year, PLP flyers had
been circulated at a number of work sites and at meetings of this Local. After
the grand jury declared that no crime had been committed, PLP members in this
Local made a plan to do more. Individual and group discussions with co-workers
and friends were held. At the Brooklyn Child Support Office the union
delegation discussed bringing the Cedeno murder to the Delegates' (shop
stewards) meeting in the form of a resolution from our office. At a local
office meeting, a PLP member opened the discussion and asked for comments. An
immigrant worker from Guyana said "I have four sons. When they are out, I
don't rest easy until they return home." Workers commented that their children
could be the next police victims. It was decided that a resolution would be
made at the monthly Delegates' meeting of our Local. Delegates from other
offices were told of the plan and asked to give support. At the Delegates'
meeting the following motion was introduced, "Whereas 16 year old Kevin Cedeno
was shot in the back by police officer Pellegrini, and whereas as is usually
the case, the grand jury has voted not to indict police officer Pellegrini, and
whereas youth, particularly black and latin youth, are at risk in dealing with
the NYPD, and whereas the failure of the judicial system to punish anyone in
this case is a sign of growing fascism, therefore be it resolved that this
Local supports efforts to fight such racist assaults and murders." The Local's
leadership tried to block a vote on the resolution by declaring that there was
no quorum present. Determined to continue, the PLP speaker asked first to speak
to the issue and then asked for a "sense of the body" resolution to be passed.
Many Delegates nodded their approval of the attack on racist police murders and
the development of fascism. Some shouted out names to add to the list of
others murdered by the Klan in blue. We remembered Clifford Glover, Randy
Evans, James Parrish, Anthony Baez, and Eleanor Bumpurs among others. Most
applauded when the PLP speaker pointed out that the issue of racist police
murder might seem like an "outside" issue but was of central importance to all
of our lives. All but one Delegate voted in favor of the resolution. That
person later bought the last copy of Challenge left from the evening's sale;
its editorial said that only a communist revolution can end racist police
murders.
PHILADELPHIA -- It's quitting time on Friday and the hospital workers leave the
building in small groups, talking and laughing. They all frown as the heat
outdoors hits them. Some break away to head home, while others wander off to
shop. But a few make their way to the Progressive Labor Study-Action Group.
Everyone is tired, but we all get re-charged once we start talking. Today's
topic is the capitalist crisis of over-production. But don't think that our
discussion of this deep subject proceeds with the order of a capitalist
classroom. Oh no! Doug is the comrade leading the discussion. He has an
outline he wants to use to develop the discussion. Forget it! As Doug
introduces each point, the workers jump on it and run. "Production under
capitalism is based on profit, not need," Doug begins. Then we all jump as
Mona, a hospital worker, suddenly yells, "Those greedy bastards at the top!"
Stan and Bob try to quiet Mona, but there's no stopping her. We give up and
let Mona get the anger out. When she's done, Doug tries to connect her
righteous outburst to the subject. But this time Bob angrily interrupts: "It's
ridiculous! Why can't there be a cap on profits? Why does someone need millions
and millions of dollars while workers are laid off?" "Yeah, why are they so
greedy,?" Mona demands. Stan, a hospital worker and Party member, handles this
question. He explains capitalist competition and the need to maximize profits.
"Besides," Stan adds, "How would you limit the bosses' profits anyway?" Mona
and Bob nod their heads in agreement that the rich own the politicians and the
government.
Meanwhile, Doug is trying to figure out a way to steer or wrestle the
conversation back to the subject. When Stan, Mona, and Bob finish discussing
the capitalists' control of the state, Doug tries again. This time he is
allowed to describe the crisis of over production in the auto industry and how
mass unemployment and low wages mean the bosses can't sell what their factories
make. It creates a problem they can't solve. Doug even attempts to compare it
to hospital problems in Philadelphia. Each hospital chain is trying to win
doctors and patients from their competition. For example, the Jefferson
hospital bosses believe they will be successful because they just won a well
known doctor and his patients from a competitor. But each hospital chain is
also laying off and cutting wages and benefits. Add this to the other people
unemployed and without health benefits, and there are a growing number of
people who can't buy this doctor's services. If people can't afford to pay for
the healthcare, it doesn't matter how many big doctors the hospital gets. Like
the auto industry crisis of over-production, this creates a problem the bosses
can't solve. "Well, someone should have an answer!" Bob demands. "We do. It's
communist revolution." Doug replies. "We need communism and production based
on the needs of the working class. But now comrade Stan interrupts. "Well, one
answer the bosses look to is war." And then Stan runs off into a very good
discussion about oil and war. For a moment Doug is confused. Comrade Stan
just took over leadership of the discussion group. "Now wait a minute," Doug
thinks, "Stan is the comrade who said he didn't feel comfortable leading this
group right now!" Stan does a fine job however. Doug realizes that that the
plan for Stan to take over leading the study-action group just moved ahead a
few steps. When Mona, Bob, and Stan are finished, Stan looks at his watch.
"Well," he says, "Maybe we should beak up. We were only supposed to meet for a
short time and it's been over an hour!" Stan's right. The hour passed quickly.
We all agree to meet again in two weeks. u
NEW YORK, July 20 -- "When I heard that the PLP was organizing to stop the Ku
Klux Klan from demonstrating in Long Island, I knew that I had to go. I
volunteered to be on the security squad because I like to fight and I wanted to
make sure the Klan didn't get the chance to get out one racist word." These
words were spoken by a l5-year-old volunteer in the PLP Summer Project, but she
spoke for everyone. On Thursday July l7th, we had an opportunity to put our
communist ideas into practice in the fight against fascism. We heard on the
radio that the KKK planned to rally at a mall in Long Island on Saturday, July
19th. Within two hours of the announcement we had members in the mall scouting
the area so we could plan our attack on the KKK vermin. Meanwhile, about 40
youth and adults in the Project met to discuss the political significance of
the KKK's attempt to return to public view. Instead of just focusing on the
gutter racism of the Klan and the anti-racist history of the working class, we
discussed capitalism and the necessity of bringing communist ideas to the
workers in Long Island. We questioned how the ongoing splits in the ruling
class may affect this appearance. Do some sections of the bosses want open KKK
fascists, while others want to keep the pretense of liberalism? Does the Klan
make the dominant section of the ruling class look good by comparison? This
discussion helped us overcome the fear many comrades had. We realized that our
main fear was of the workers in the mainly white suburbs of Long Island. Most
did not know that many of these workers have also suffered mass layoffs, pay
cuts, and all the other attacks of this fascist period. Our fear became
secondary with the realization that the capitalist class was making war on our
brothers and sisters every day. We discussed the murders by the fascist NYPD
and the inevitable oil war in the Mideast. We tried to put this particular
racist event into the context of the current political situation for the
world's imperialists and for our class. As a result of this political struggle,
we were more committed to the work of building for the anti-KKK protest. We
deepened our class hatred and determination in taking on the class enemy in
hoods and in business suits. The next day, Friday, we launched three teams to
sell Challenge and leaflet. One group went to the mall. A second group held
two spirited rallies at a GM plant and a telephone plant in New Jersey,
distributing over 65 Challenges and hundreds of anti-Klan leaflets. The third
team remained in Brooklyn to visit and invite friends in Flatbush to join us.
By Friday night more than forty youth gathered for a barbecue and planning
session. Fifty people pledged to join us on Saturday. By then the radio
announced the KKK had canceled. A local District Attorney took credit for
finding some obscure rule against protesting in masks. The racist punks called
their event off once it became clear that the anti-Klan sentiment was loud and
strong. Still, we agreed on Friday night to go to the mall on Saturday to lead
the anti-racist forces in a victory rally. (Later, we learned that the KKK was
reduced to holding a night-time secret crossburning in an isolated woods). When
we arrived, before we could even unfurl our banners, the mall security tried to
chase us across the street. The local cops, however, immediately told us we
had to stay where we were--as opposed to marching into the mall! As the cops
quibbled we went to work. We opened two banners proclaiming "Death To The
Klan!" and "Honk If You Hate The Klan!" We distributed Challenges and leaflets.
As car horns were blaring, our chants filled the air, and cars screeched to a
halt to grab our literature. "It was a near riot," exclaimed one participant
as we rushed to respond to the tremendous wave of anti-Klan anger. They
welcomed the leadership of the communist PLP. Shoppers who were headed for the
mall turned instead to our rally. Many joined us, or watched, chanted or gave
their names to us to learn more about communism. Meanwhile, our security team,
inside the mall, was encouraged at the extent of the talk by shoppers of our
rally, and the strong hatred of the KKK. It was an inspiring day for all of us.
This weekend gave us all an invaluable lesson in relying on the workers and on
communist ideas. It is an unbeatable combination.
"I could not get over seeing the response from the community. When a group of
journalists were taking photographs of a comrade who was holding a red flag, it
reminded me of some of the images that I have seen of the revolution. I had a
little taste of a future when generations see the picture of this comrade who
drove away the KKK from Smithtown." "I was so pumped up when I saw the
wonderful response we received from the community. All the cars honked their
horns in support. Some people came out from the mall and joined our rally.
Many more took Challenge and gave us their names and phone numbers. This rally
helped me realize that the working class is really not won to the racist ideas
that divide us. Instead many embrace communist ideas, the idea that workers
must unite and fight back to struggle against capitalism." "I was really
inspired and impressed by the reception we got in Smithtown. I was especially
happy to see that many of the people that supported us were white and they
still hated the Klan. I think going out there and getting such a good response
showed the Klan that they will not be allowed to spread their racist ideas
because we will always be in their faces. "
As part of our investigation for preparation for the anti-KKK rally we called
the Smithtown NAACP. They told us they had no actions planned, and said that
the best thing was to ignore them. "For example," explained their leader, "the
Klan protested outside one of the hotels at our national convention last week
in Pittsburgh. They even harassed some of our young members. But we just
ignored them and they eventually went away." This is the liberal face of
fascism. These groveling agents of the Rockefeller fascists will urge our
class to walk calmly into the firing line of imperialist war. On Saturday,
once the communist PLP led the way, these bugs scurried into a church to hold a
rally and be interviewed by the media to take credit for the change in the
Klan's plans. The Sunday papers loyally quoted them and suppressed the role of
the communists. We should not be surprised.
QUEENS, NY, July 21--Seven people were arrested yesterday accused of keeping 57
Mexican deaf-mute immigrants under forced slavery. These immigrants, including
12 children, were brought from a village in Mexico, packed like sardines into
two Jackson Heights apartments and forced to peddle trinkets in the subways and
airports for a pittance. Mayor Giuliani, the NYPD and the Immigration and
Naturalization Service have taken credit for exposing this slavery ring.
According to the media report on this case, they have become the leading
fighters against slavery. Can this be? We don't think so: As Ass't. Attorney
General under Reagan, Giuliani was responsible for putting into concentration
camps thousands of immigrant Haitians who were fleeing Duvalier's fascism.
Mayor Giuliani is proud of being responsible for the biggest workfare program
in the U.S. Tens of thousands of welfare recipients are forced to work under
this slave labor program for their miserable welfare checks. The INS is
responsible for the persecution of millions of undocumented workers all over
the U.S., who are forced to work under conditions not too different from those
of the deaf mutes in Jackson Heights. And what creates the conditions that
force millions to be treated like slaves? The seven arrested in the deaf-mute
cases are not different from any other capitalists. The essence of capitalism
is that a tiny group of bosses make huge profits from millions of wage slaves
(workers). And in this age of growing fascism and war, more workers will be
forced to work under conditions not too different from those deaf-mutes. If you
want to fight slavery in all forms, fight for communism and join the PLP!
This week's Fuhrman award goes to Judge Ira Globerman and NYPD cop
Paolo Colecchia who killed 26 year old unarmed Nathaniel Gaines. Gaines, a
Navy veteran of the Gulf War was shot and killed on a Bronx subway platform on
July 4, 1996. Colecchia, a subway cop ordered Gaines off the train after
claiming that he was harassing a woman passenger. The NYPD and the medical
examiner announced that he was shot in the back. Bronx Judge Ira Globerman
sentenced killer cop Colecchia to 1.5 to 4.5 years for 2nd degree manslaughter,
and promptly released the killer on bail, pending his appeal. The Gaines'
family held hands and wept. "At least he got some time," said the tired
victim's father. "We were hoping for the maximum, but at least he got some
time." In New York City, most cops who have been brought in front of a judge or
indicted for police brutality have been cleared of all charges or given
probation. This little slap on the hand is no victory for the Gaines family or
the working class. The fact of the matter is that young black and latin men
are shot down routinely on the streets: Aswan Watson, Kevin Cedeno, Steve
Exceli and to name a few of the thousands killed by cops each year. PLP is in
the middle of our Summer Project in New York against racist police terror.
There can never be justice for the working class under capitalism. Workers and
youth must join and build PLP to destroy capitalist injustice and fight for
communist revolution!
On June 13 at Markham Middle School the fascist school police forced three
students to the floor, cursing and pointing their guns at them. When a student
tried to show his pass, the police told him to shut up or he was going to get
hurt. On July 16th the LA summer project organized a rally at the school, but
we arrived after most students had left. Still, we distributed more than 30
Challenges and passed out many leaflets. A couple joined the picket line
because they had seen a leaflet we had passed out in South Central. The man
was a postal worker who had seen us passing out leaflets and Challenges at his
worksite. On Saturday we visited a woman who had called in response to a
leaflet. "I was imagining how the student was thrown to the floor with a gun
pointing at his head; this is something to traumatize you," she said to a young
LA summer project volunteer. "I understand the role of the police and the
courts. I have loved-ones in jail because of them," she added. "This case is
not isolated. The bosses build more jails and then force inmates to work under
fascist slave labor conditions; they use Workfare to do the same with people on
welfare. This is how they are getting the money to prepare for a Word War
III," said the young communist. We left five C/Ds and over 20 leaflets. She
agreed to go to a forum about police terror and said she would invite friends
and relatives. At a second protest over 20 summer project volunteers chanted
and gave speeches denouncing this racist attack and proclaiming the need to
destroy the system with communist revolution. We passed out hundreds of
leaflets and more than 70 Challenges. The workers and students were very happy
to see how we defied the racist cops.
On Sunday, July 20, the LA Summer Project went to Delano to talk to a veteran
PLP member who was one of the original organizers of the Farmworkers Union in
the 1960's. He talked about the struggles against pacifism and sell-out union
leaders, and invited the youth that were there to join the Party and carry on
the struggle for communism. Seven young people took that step. This is a
result of this year's political work in Los Angeles, intensified by two weeks
of struggle during the summer project. "I always have had communist ideals...
now I can express my ideas and emotions for the struggle," said a high school
student. "Now that I'm part of the PLP, I can take action," said one young
woman. "The capitalist system has too many lies and obstacles for young people
like myself," said a young man. "I want to be part of the PLP and get more
people involved." These young people have participated with other youth from
Los Angeles and other cities on the West Coast in study, struggle, agitation,
and mass organizations during the past two weeks. The summer project began
with a forum on "What is Communism?" One of the best discussions was about the
dream of car ownership under capitalism and what we're fighting for-- a system
where everything (including transportation) is collectively owned and serves
workers' needs. We have distributed more than 1100 Challenges in the past two
weeks, and had two demonstrations at Markham Middle School against the attacks
of school police on students. We are planning a demonstration next weekend in
one of the neighborhoods where the police are using the "war on gangs" to
terrorize all youth. We've talked about how to organize under fascism. When
fascism increases we need to be more secretive about our work. We need to
recruit more people from mass organizations such as unions and churches to the
Party. In the following weeks we will be working harder to figure out how to
do this. We are visiting more of our friends to involve them in these
activities.
Behind the headlines about Clinton's campaign finances and the three-ring
circuses in Washington over Gingrich's future, a corporate duel to the death is
being waged as you read these lines. It pits Union Pacific Resources against
Pennzoil. On July 7, UPR announced a hostile takeover bid against Pennzoil.
Behind it rages every major contradiction the PLP has described as the split
between "New Money" and "Old Money." The stakes involved are enormous, and the
bosses on either side of the struggle will stop at nothing to defend their
greedy interests. Pennzoil's founder, Hugh Liedtke, was George Bush's partner
in Bush's Texas oil prospecting days. Liedtke dreamed of turning Pennzoil into
another Exxon. When Getty oil fell on hard times in the 1980s, Pennzoil tried
to buy it out. However, Old Money had other plans as well as state power to
carry them out. A federal court zapped Pennzoil's plan by awarding Getty to
Texaco. Pennzoil got $3 billion in damages but had to stay in the minor
leagues. However, Pennzoil hadn't learned its lesson. By 1994, it had built
up an 8.9% stake in Chevron, obviously in preparation for another takeover
move. Once again Rockefeller & Co. used state power to squelch the
upstart. The Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department stopped the
takeover dead by fining Pennzoil $2.3 billion for "non-disclosure." In other
words, the Feds confiscated more than 75% of Pennzoil's award from the Texaco
fiasco. But Pennzoil still wouldn't go quietly. Like all new capitalists, it
needed to grow rapidly or die. So it invested big money in exploring the
newly-found oceans of oil under the Caspian Sea. Since Pennzoil doesn't have
the clout of an Exxon, it sought tactical alliances as a junior partner with
Exxon's European, Japanese, and Russian rivals. This amounts to treason from
the Rockefeller viewpoint. Exxon will never passively tolerate the transfer of
these strategic assets into enemy hands. The Getty and Chevron spankings
hadn't taught Pennzoil its lesson. The time had come to wipe it out. And so
the Rockefeller interests enlisted Union Pacific for the hatchet job. Union
Pacific Resources is the largest domestic oil company. Its ancestor was the
Union Pacific Railroad, one of the Establishment's oldest war-horses. UPR
emerged from a 1996 spin-off. The Rockefeller interests must have created it
explicitly to wreck Pennzoil. To this day, the Rockefeller family and New
York's bluenose Brown Brothers Harriman Bank dominate ownership of the Union
Pacific railroad. The baby didn't stray far from the parent. The largest
block of UPR stock is owned by Boston's Fidelity, an old-line investment house.
In urging Pennzoil's shareholders to sell, the UPR bosses charged that Pennzoil
had wasted the $3 billion award from the Texaco fiasco and that it wouldn't
have the cash to develop its prize Caspian assets. UPR also demanded to know
how Pennzoil would fund its offshore Karbakh Caspian project.
What really has the Eastern Establishment bosses hopping mad is Russia's
complete control of this deal as it presently stands. Russian and Italian
interests control 62.5% to Pennzoil's 30%. Any oil produced in the landlocked
region would have to be shipped in Russian pipelines, over Russian territory,
guarded by Russian troops. UPR/Rockefeller complain that Pennzoil is handing
the Karbakh treasure over to Russian bosses on a silver platter. Also at
issue: Pennzoil's auctioning off of its investments in Azerbaijan. All these
fields lie within the region Exxon is desperate to develop as a future
replacement for limited Persian Gulf oil. Before trying to bail out to the
Russians, Pennzoil first tried to sell its Azerbaijan stake to the Japanese.
Exxon strong-armed this deal as well and took control of more than half the
Pennzoil stake. The more powerful faction of the big bosses is apparently sick
and tired of disciplining Pennzoil on a case by case basis. They want to
destroy it. If Rockefeller & Co. win, the Oil Patch billionaires will have
to step up their fight for survival on every front: political, economic, and
military. Their militias are growing, as is the liberal establishment's
determination to squash them by any means necessary. Early returns indicate
that UPR is likely to win the battle for Pennzoil. Half of Pennzoil's
shareholders have accepted UPR's buyout bribe. But the Pennzoil board is loyal
to New Money and will fight back. Expect the struggle on this front to
sharpen. Even if Pennzoil becomes history, New Money is far from dead. It has
a counter strategy of its own, which includes penetrating eastern markets that
have been Rockefeller hunting preserves until now. For example, on July 15,
the Nebraska-based Calenergy Corporation announced a hostile takeover bid
against New York State Electric and Gas, a utility company in upstate New York.
The domestic oil and gas gang clearly want to horn in on their rivals' eastern
energy interests. This is a direct challenge to the Old Money Cabot
Corporation, which has had a virtual monopoly on gas imports in the Northeast.
Cabot/Rockefeller aren't going to roll out the red carpet for this one. As the
economic war among these bosses sharpens, both sides will work overtime to win
workers' support for their greedy plans. We must learn to recognize the
essence of these developments in order to understand our own class interests
and avoid falling into the traps set for us by either faction of the ruling
class. Only a communist outlook and our Party can guarantee this.
Dear Challenge:
"Let us in, let us in," chanted more than 300 riders and drivers at CTA's June
30th hearing on its proposed service cuts. The sham hearing began promptly at
6p.m. The workers couldn't get in because there were over 700 angry workers
already inside. This was a total shock to CTA's bosses who are used to having
little if any participation by the working class. As soon as the CTA bosses
opened the doors to the meeting inside, the drivers that were present received
a standing ovation from over 700 riders inside the auditorium. As worker after
worker testified about how they would be affected by the cuts, the bosses were
in further shock as the workers kept them there until one in the morning with
their testimony. The next day Mayor Daley met with his hand picked board and
said that he supported the cuts. A week later, despite a spirited protest
organized by riders and drivers, the CTA board did as they were ordered to do
by Daley and voted for the cuts. The cuts involve the elimination of much of
CTA's overnight and weekend service, in addition to the elimination of 16
weekday routes. The CTA bosses line is that the cuts will only affect 3.3 per
cent of the ridership, so while in the past no CTA route was further away than
three blocks, the boundary now becomes a four to six block walk or miles at
night if your route has been cut. For late shift workers, senior citizens and
the disabled this only increases the hardships involved, especially if there is
no bus or train to catch at all. The cuts are supposed to erase a $62 million
defecit, but money is constantly being wasted. $106 million was spent on a new
farecard system which rarely works; the reason was to eliminate ticket agent
jobs. $15 million are being spent to buy cloth seats, plexiglas panels, and new
PA systems for the trains, while night service is being cut on some lines to
save $2 million. A coalition of groups including the Rider-Driver Unity
Alliance is continuing the struggle .
CTA Driver
Dear Challenge:
Recently, a Party veteran made the point that communists should concentrate on
the most advanced workers around us. A second writer strongly disagreed,
calling it "Preaching to the Choir"--saying that we should be winning all
workers, not just the few. Second Writer indicated it was a kind of elitism,
going against the strategy of a mass Party, if we concentrate on the most
pro-communist workers. Second Writer is correct in saying that we should reach
out to all workers. But Second Writer missed the main point and is making a
very common error that feeds anti-communism. We should concentrate on the most
advanced people for two reasons. Strategically, we have to concentrate our
work on some people; we can't work "equally" with everyone. That goes against
a scientific approach, a "principle of concentration" that we know to apply in
everyday life. It is like trying to chop down trees in a forest by taking one
swing of the ax at a tree and then moving on to the next tree. It will take a
long time to get any trees chopped down! Beyond this, there is another point.
We concentrate because we must win more workers to become organizers. Our
Party is currently too small to lead six billion people to communism! We need
to train more workers to be leaders of the Party in order for the Party to
grow. And the newer members will also be able to influence and win those that
they have personal ties with. Winning more workers to the Party is the best
way to oppose elitism! Of course, we need to be accurate in how we see other
workers; we want to avoid the mistake of concentrating on someone who might
just like to talk about politics while ignoring another worker or student who
talks less but acts more like a communist. Focusing on the strongest potential
organizers is the best way to build the communist movement in quantity and in
quality. In my own work as a teacher for 20 years, I have often tried to focus
on the strongest, but have often fallen back into concentrating too much on
moderate students rather than the most pro-communist. The result was that I
had a huge base-- too much for me to keep up with--did some recruiting, but the
work was very uneven. Since the inner-Party struggles on revolution versus
reform sparked by the document we call "RR 4.5", our collective has focused
more consistently. Challenge sales are way up and holding, and the recruitment
of new members has significantly improved in both numbers and in the strengths
of the newer members. Our collective, along with the rest of the party, has a
long way to go. Staying focused on the main task, winning workers to become
organizers for the Party and communism, is why the working class needs a
revolutionary communist Party and has such a Party--the PLP.
Red Teacher
Dear Challenge:
On July 17th, 20,000 workers marched for jobs, higher wages, freedom of press
and for the end of the Fujimori regime. The march was part of a one day
national strike organized by the CGTP (The General Federation of Workers of
Peru). The march began in the May 2 Plaza of Lima. When workers marched by
the Justice Ministry they chanted against it. The angry and militant workers
also broke through the police blockade which tried to stop them from going to
Plaza de Armas, in front of the government palace, where workers got even
angrier. It is good to see workers losing fear and fighting against the
repressive and anti-working class Fujimori regime. Challenge-Desafío
was sold, and many workers welcomed it. There is a power struggle here between
different bosses. Workers, the gravediggers of capitalism, have to take
advantage of this dogfight, as PLP needs to put forward communist politics.
Right now, the protests are reformist and framed within the bourgeoisie
legalisms. Workers need to organize themselves into a communist Party to
demolish the capitalist system and install the dictatorship of the proletariat
instead of letting the union hacks and politicians take advantage of our
struggles.
A Comrade, Peru
Challenge Responds:
The comrade took a great step in making sure workers fight for communism
by bringing Challenge to the demonstration. But we must also show workers that
the CGTP leaders' purpose in organizing the protest and march are contradictory
to the real needs of workers. The hacks want us to side with the capitalists
(and even U.S. ambassador Dennis Jett) who have found Fujimori and his
Rasputin, Vladimir Montesinos, to have outlived their usefulness, particularly
when they started buying Russian MiGs and dealing with Japanese capitalists.
To take any side in this bosses' dogfight is deadly for workers. We need to
take advantage of their infighting to destroy all the capitalists and
imperialists.
Dear Challenge:I am currently living in Europe, and I read Challenge regularly.
I have a number of friends with whom I discuss Challenge, and I am inspired to
find a group that holds high the banner of revolutionary communism today.
Originally, I came from Iran. After reading Challenge for several months, I
began to translate articles into Farsi, the language of Iran. Through some
friends, I have been able to secretly get these articles from Challenge into
Iran. Recently, hundreds of copies of these articles were distributed to
workers in a city where the oil industry is located. I will continue working
to spread communism to workers in Iran and in Europe, and I look forward to
meeting with party members sometime in the future. Long live revolution!
A Friend and Comrade
Dear Challenge:
Almost 300 workers, youth and children (many who had marched last May Day in
Washington, DC), enjoyed a day trip to a state park. We took collective hikes,
walks around the lake, boat rides and refreshing dips into the swimming pool.
Amid games, food and laughter, some small advances were made for PLP and the
working class. Three workers decided to attend an international PLP cadre
school to be held in September. Two workers agreed to meet with a Party
club/study group. A member will help organize a new study group made up of his
family members. A young man who was shot in the back by racist cops, and his
mother, expressed interest in our young workers/student club. These youth are
involving themselves in school and community groups fighting police brutality
and learning to raise the ideas of PLP. On the buses going to and from the
park, we distributed 125 Challenges, 75 PLP pamphlets "Workfare: Slave Labor
U.S. Style," and 200 PLP leaflets denouncing the freeing of racist cop
Pelligrini (who killed Kevin Cedeno last April). It was a good day,
NYC Comrade
Dear Challenge:
On the first day of class in a college in El Salvador, we discussed the program
of the course. The course is "The psychology of work." We spoke, among other
things, about the motivation for working. What makes a person motivated to
work? What factors determine this motivation? Some mentioned that work must be
stable. Others said that the job had to be matched to the person's capability.
Others said it had to pay a good salary. Then we asked why people who made a
higher wage and had a standard of living that was better than others continued
to work with the same motivation as those who earn less money. Or why some who
earn higher salaries actually work less than those who earn lower ones. We
decided that money did not make someone more motivated to work. I asked the
question, "How would life be without money?" Some were very surprised by the
question, and others said they had never thought about it. "Do you think that
this is possible?" I asked them. The students were very interested and the
discussion became very lively. We talked about primitive communism and how
needs were met without money. Today lots of money is in circulation, but the
needs of the majority are not met. There's hunger, poverty, unemployment.
Because only a small group enjoys the fruits of the labor of the great
majority. "I think money is not the priority," concluded one student. So I
said, "It's necessary to change things, but we have to fight for that, to fight
for communism, for a world without wages or money."
Red Teacher
QUITO, Ecuador -- For three months, hospital workers have been on strike here.
The government blames the unions for not negotiating. The unions are refusing
to negotiate not because they are defending the interests of the workers, but
because two different groups of opportunists are competing for control of the
unions. The fake-leftists of the Popular Democratic Movement (MPD) have formed
a United Healthworkers Union to compete with the old "Communist"
Party-controlled union, Federation of Health Workers (FETSAE). The FETSAE used
to have sole control of the health workers unions. The fight is so sharp that
on July 15th, both sides fought each other with rocks, sticks and firebombs,
and the cops had to intervene.
Neither side cares about the workers' interests, all they want is the millions
workers pay in union dues. For example, the MPD already controls the teachers'
union, one of the biggest in Ecuador. A former teacher, Juan José
Castello, invested the teachers' pension fund in the Filanbanco bank. Last
year, Castello, who is now a lackey of President Fabian Alarcón, ran for
President. His campaign was financed by Filanbanco. PLP has distributed 5,000
leaflets in Quito and Guayaquil, the two largest cities of Ecuador, exposing
these union bosses and their schemes. Our exposé was well-received by
workers. In Guayaquil, at first some workers thought we were fake-leftists
like those of the MPD and CP, and told us that if we had not put forward our
communist politics clearly, they would have beaten us up, "because we don't
want those traitors from MPD and CP. "We called on them to join the PLP and
fight for the only solution to the capitalist system that produces such
parasites: a communist society without bankers, bosses, union hacks and their
money. u
(The following quotes are from Challenge, 1981)
"Even this bosses' paper (Overseas Weekly) had to admit the obvious.
There were at least two soldier rebellions every week during the summer of
1971, according to official army reports... Seven thousand GIs were thrown into
the stockade in 1971... Upholding the racist tradition of the services, black
and Latin GIs were twice as likely to be incarcerated for twice as long... This
strategy backfired. Every major stockade revolted. Outraged at the beating of
a black inmate, black and white troops rioted, holding the Ft. Bragg (NC)
stockade for 48 hours on July 23, 1968 in one of the first major rebellions.
The 82nd Airborne had to be diverted from Vietnam to quell the revolt. The
famous rebellion at the Long Binh Jail in Vietnam was also caused by the
beating of a black inmate. The place was burned to the ground..." Masses of
white GIs took leadership from militant black GIs who led stockade uprisings
and shot down their commanding officers.
These facts expose a fundamental contradiction. The capitalist armed forces
represent the iron fist of the ruling class, but they also are its "Achilles'
Heel." The essence of communist revolution will be armed insurrection, led by
soldiers and sailors of the bosses' own armed forces. "We have studied
rebellion and revolution in the Russian Imperial Army and Navy, among the
invading imperialist armies in the USSR, and in the U.S. Armed Forces during
the Vietnam era. In each case, relatively young, inexperienced comrades were
able to organize massive rebellion in the midst of imperialist war... The
Bolsheviks were, however, the only party able to turn this good situation into
a socialist revolution... Their success, however, cannot be explained primarily
by better organization. The Bolsheviks had the best line because they had the
most confidence in working class soldiers and sailors. They won these troops
to revolution, not to reform of capitalism."
PLP was organized by a small handful of comrades in 1965. In 1966, we sent our
first organizers into the Army. At the time, pacifism, draft dodging and draft
resistance were popular. Our Party rejected these ideas. College students in
the Party refused the accept the `2S' student deferment from the draft. " `The
PLP has been particularly active in encouraging members to join the services,'
said GI activists in Germany."
We made reformist errors, however. We organized against imperialist war,
against racism, and against harassment of soldiers. We recognized the key role
of Challenge-Desafio and communist ideas, but we did not put first and
foremost the slogan "Turn the Guns Around; Shoot the Bosses Down." Who knows
what opportunities were missed because of our reformism in that crucial time?
Still, there is much that can be learned from the experience of our GI comrades
during the Vietnam period. The following story was written by a comrade who
was in the army stateside in 1973:
"We had been distributing literature explaining the class nature of racism and
the need for multiracial unity against the brass for the past 6 months. Among
this literature were 50 Challenges per issue. My company had been out in
the field for three days. The foxholes we had been ordered to lay down in had
been turned into swimming pools by the incessant rain. We were all angry as
hell. Some of us were trucked back to the barracks. Our Captain "All-swine"
Alwine ordered us to get haircuts before returning to camp. Nobody wanted to
do it. Many black soldiers complained that nobody on base knew how to cut
their hair. Following their lead, white soldiers also refused. The lifers
immediately split us up into two groups, one black and one white. They ordered
us into the trucks. A few of us organizers scurried between them."
"Then it happened. All the black soldiers got out of their truck and boarded
the truck with their white buddies. Hugs and `power' handshakes were exchanged
as well as heartfelt vows to fight the brass together. We commandeered the
truck, kicked the lifers off, and sped back to camp. It was night when we
arrived. Our comrades had built small fires to dry themselves as they stood
watch on the perimeter. We went from blaze to blaze, picking up more soldiers
as we went. After circling the camp we headed for the captain's headquarters.
He must have seen us because he sent the chaplain out to run interference. The
chaplain told us we were violating God's word. We told him to go to a place
where God is reputed not to be. I don't know if he took our advice, but he
sure left in a hurry!"
"We caught the captain in his tent. More than 50 of us, black, latin and
white, presented our list of anti-racist demands: no bad discharges, no job
discrimination, no riot control, no article 15's, no racist slurs from lifers,
no genocidal war, and, of course, no haircuts! We retired to the heated
officer's tent--no more wet foxholes for us! The commanding lieutenant of my
platoon, a recent ROTC grad, ordered us out to the perimeter. One GI, recently
returned from Vietnam, asked him where he hailed from. `Idaho,' replied the
`lieuy. ' The Vietnam vet shot back, `Where I come from, we eat people from
Idaho!' The `lieuy' left-for good. I will never forget the camaraderie of those
days. The grandeur of these rank-and-file soldiers uniting to fight the racist
brass surpasses every Hollywood war epic."
Although the stakes are high during wartime, the bosses are also at their most
vulnerable. As world war and possibly civil war edge closer, we are learning.
The next time around, PLP will be ready.