Sunday, December 16, 2012

Workers Strike, and Step up the Struggle at Walmart
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Dec 3, 2012
By Pete Ikeler, New York City
When you think of the many things wrong with 21st century U.S. capitalism - low wages, dead-end jobs, bosses’ dictatorship and the super-exploitation of Asian workers to make cheap products for sale to impoverished workers here - one company almost always comes to mind: Walmart. At $8.90 an hour for the average “associate,” Walmart pays some of the lowest wages in the U.S. while employing a larger share of U.S. workers than any other private company.
Perhaps because of this, it finds millions of dollars every year to spend on vicious anti-union lawsuits and worker intimidation programs. Throughout its 50-year history, Walmart has remained union- and strike-free, providing a bastion of the “open shop” for post-1970s, neoliberal America. But in recent months, this has started to change. Walmart workers are beginning to stand up for their rights.
Largest Actions against Walmart on Black Friday
On November 23, “Black Friday,” the largest wave of demonstrations and walkouts ever to hit Walmart took place. The actions were led by OUR Walmart (Organization United for Respect at Walmart), an organization of Walmart workers set up by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union. OUR Walmart has grown to thousands of members in more than 40 states by campaigning against the brutal conditions workers face and using the limited rights non-union workers have. This includes the right to collectively organize and strike over working conditions and retaliation by management.
A small but heroic number of Walmart workers have since taken the bold step of walking off the job. Following the historic strikes at Walmart warehouses in Illinois and California in September - and numerous rolling strikes of small numbers of workers at stores throughout October – on Black Friday, up to 1,000 of the company’s stores in 46 states were picketed, disrupted or struck. The vast majority of actions involved a single worker walking out of work in protest. But in Paramount, California, as many as 19 workers took strike action.
In Secaucus, New Jersey, 400 Occupy and union activists picketed in front of a combined Walmart/Sam’s Club complex for three hours, flagging down carloads of customers as they entered and getting strong support. Socialist Alternative members participated in the actions. We also went in the store. Using a flash-mob tactic that’s hard for managers to predict or control, groups of activists gathered throughout the store at exactly 1:30 and called out Occupy-style “mic checks,” highlighting the embarrassingly low wages Walmart pays, standing for the need for an end to anti-union terror, and calling on workers to join the campaign to defend their rights.
We passed out information to workers and customers - many of whom were amused and supportive - and then split up to avoid the anxious managers and security guards roaming the floor and pushing mic-checkers out the door. Once outside, we staged a rally in front of the main entrance for a good half hour before local cops pushed us back, sending us on a loud and winding march through the massive Walmart parking lot.
Unions Pursue New Strategy
Actions like this took place across the country. They consisted not only of Walmart workers and OUR Walmart staffers, but of many community activists who simply wanted to take a shot at the dominant low-wage corporation. They broadcasted the plight of Walmart workers and the need for change to a large number of customers and helped support the 100-plus Walmart employees already on strike since September. What these actions didn’t do, it seems, was negatively affect the company’s bottom line. Walmart - of course - claims the protests had little impact, but less biased sources, like The Huffington Post, also reported minimal detraction from shopping. At this stage of the game, however, it is arguable that direct economic damage is not the primary goal. Far more important is the confidence that workers are gaining by standing up for their rights in Walmart workplaces.
Having tried unsuccessfully for over a decade to organize Walmart stores, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) - America’s largest retail union - is clearly pursuing a new strategy. U.S. labor law and employers’ vicious anti-unionism make the chances for organizing a union and winning a first contract at any given workplace according to official “rules” less than 1 in 4 - and probably much lower if campaigns are counted that withdraw before elections. At spread-out service firms like Walmart - or McDonald’s, Target, Taco Bell, Home Depot, etc. - it is even harder to organize lasting unions on this model, since successful campaigns can be met with store closings due to the relatively low cost of investment in any given outlet.
Given this environment, it is unsurprising that ten years of sporadic UFCW campaigns have yielded a big fat zero on the membership charts. Organizing retail - and low-wage service jobs generally - requires going beyond the narrow and ineffective channel otherwise known as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
New Organizing Forms
One way to break out of this corral is to build associational power outside the workplace. This can happen either through the formation of open-membership worker organizations, like OUR Walmart, or the mobilization of social justice, anti-racist, and immigrant rights groups along with other community support networks, as was the case in the famous Justice for Janitors campaigns in the 1990s and many smaller campaigns since.
The UFCW has clearly learned from these efforts and from the hundreds of open-membership workers’ centers sprouting up around the country. In 2011 it founded OUR Walmart as a separate organization that any Walmart worker can join. OUR Walmart is not legally a union: It cannot, for example, bargain with the company over wages and working conditions. What it can do, however, is educate workers about the limited rights they can use and provide workers with an organizing umbrella for ongoing campaigns that may result in formal unionization, as several smaller efforts by the similarly non-union - but union-affiliated - Retail Action Project have already done in New York City.
Another way to break the NLRB deadlock is through the flexing of key workers’ structural power in the supply chain. The success of Walmart and other big-box firms is largely a function of their centralized and sophisticated logistics systems. Store-level inventories are replenished through just-in-time deliveries from regional distribution centers, which in turn depend on shipments from huge national transport hubs in the Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York metro areas. Many of these warehouse workers are not employed directly by Walmart, but by multiple layers of shady subcontractors that exercise the most brutal - and blatantly illegal - forms of labor exploitation on predominantly immigrant workers.
But it is precisely these workers, in contrast to their store-level counterparts, who could shut down big portions of the company through concerted strike action - not unlike the sit-down strikers in Flint, Michigan who brought GM to a screeching halt in the winter of 1937. Crucially, the UFCW has begun to build this form of worker power in its campaign against Walmart: Warehouse workers at the Los Angeles and Chicago-area transport hubs courageously walked out in September to protest inhuman working conditions.
These were not random, spontaneous actions, but the products of several years’ organizing by immigrant workers with the help of local workers’ centers: Warehouse Workers United (WWU) in L.A. and Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ) in Chicago. New Jersey’s warehouse workers have also been organizing under the framework of the New Labor workers’ center, but they have as yet been unable to take strike action.
At present, both forms of real worker power - associational and structural - are in processes of formation among Walmart workers, with coordination coming from the UFCW, OUR Walmart, and local workers’ centers. This kind of bold, movement-building approach is a positive step by the leaders of UFCW and other Change to Win (CtW) unions - one which, if consistently pursued over the past 30 or 40 years, might have prevented the colossal decline in unions, wages, and living standards we’ve seen since then.
The Role of the Unions
But we also have to be clear that the UFCW and its CtW brethren - SEIU, the Teamsters and, to a lesser extent, UFW - are top-down, bureaucratic organizations with track records of squelching union democracy when it conflicts with the objectives and privileges of paid union officials. Not to mention that the leaders of these organizations are bound at the hip to the Democratic Party, funneling millions to them every election season despite the party’s continued anti-worker, anti-union, pro-business policies.
Some on the left might claim that these factors make unions like the UFCW useless for building worker power in U.S. society or at companies like Walmart. Others might take a wholly uncritical approach, delegating all decision-making power and moral authority to the leaders of UFCW and OUR Walmart. But these are no reasons not to aggressively begin serious organizing efforts. The first argument ignores the potential for workers to win meaningful material gains even under the framework of unions that are bureaucratic and, initially, class-collaborationist - as the histories of both the Teamsters and the Steelworkers bear out.
The second argument is a recipe for long-term defeat, since the source of worker power under capitalism consists not in contracts or slick negotiating skills – or, for that matter, in employer largesse or middle-class sympathy - but in the ability of workers, when they act collectively in their own interests, to shut down key sources of capitalist money-making. The left needs to get involved in these organizing efforts, while at the same time arguing for the maximum power to rest with the workers themselves. At the same time, the left should be putting forward effective, dynamic strategies to help arm a new layer of worker activists at Walmart, who will play the main role in winning the decisive battles to come.
Mobilize Millions for Workers Rights
Despite the small number of workers who actually struck, the OUR Walmart campaign and the actions taken by hundreds of heroic Walmart workers represent important steps forward. With over 1.4 million workers working in brutal conditions for pitiful wages, the potential for explosive developments cannot be ruled out. Ultimately, winning living-wage jobs, respectful working conditions, and a union for all Walmart workers will require the mobilization of millions.
It is absolutely crucial that the activity of Walmart workers themselves be at the heart of any strategy. This includes democratic decision-making by the workers, as opposed to the top-down models that currently dominate the labor movement. The lessons of the 1930s labor battles will be crucial. Mass strikes, picket lines of thousands, occupations, and other militant tactics will be crucial for effective action by the powerful ranks of Walmart workers.
While the current strategy to avoid the normal NLRB channels and use the limited existing laws for non-union workers can provide an important start, ultimately the law is stacked against workers. Organizing at Walmart should be combined with broader campaigns and movements to advance workers rights. While we should take advantage of every single legal opening we can get, we should not acquiesce to the limitations of a draconian legal system designed by corporate politicians to make effective action by workers nearly impossible.
Any meaningful change for the 1.4 million workers at Walmart will require mobilizing millions to demand our rights in spite of the law – and in defiance of it. Previous struggles have shown that unjust laws can be defeated through massive mobilizations of workers’ power. Otherwise, there would be no unions today, and racist segregation laws would never have been overturned. This would also mean mobilizing active support among the pubic and the community in defense of these organizing efforts.
If a non-union, low-wage Walmart epitomizes much that is wrong with contemporary capitalism, a unionized, living-wage Walmart would point more clearly in the direction of what is really needed: the public ownership and democratic control by workers of all key sectors of the economy, from manufacturing and finance to education, health care and, yes, even retail.


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Across Globe, "Age of Austerity" Preparing Seismic Convulsions
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Dec 4, 2012
By Socialism Today
We are living through one of the most dramatic periods in history.
Extracts from the draft document on world perspectives that will be discussed at the December meeting of the International Executive Committee (IEC) of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI)

This extract from the draft was taken by Socialism Today, magazine of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales) for its December edition.

We will publish the entire amended document here, on socialistworld.net, after the IEC meeting in the middle of December.


The Greek workers, followed by the Portuguese and Spanish, are in the vanguard of the movement against endless austerity. No one can now argue that the working class is passive in the face of the onslaught of rotten and diseased capitalism. In a series of epic general strikes, they have resisted. They have yet to create a mass party and leadership worthy of them in the battle between labor and capital that will dominate the early 21st century. It is the task of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI), through the theoretical clarity of our ideas matched to a programme of action, to help create this new leadership, which can ensure victory to the working class.
The unstable character of world relations – which can result in the outbreak of conflict in many areas of the world at any time – is indicated by the recent clashes between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. This was restricted to the exchange of rocket fire and a ceasefire agreement has now been reached. But the war could break out again and a ground assault by Israel against Gaza cannot be ruled out, which in turn would provoke turmoil throughout the Middle East.
At the same time, a new regional war or wars are still possible. Syria is a powder keg with the Assad regime besieged and facing possible overthrow but with an opposition that is also divided along sectarian lines. Socialists cannot support either Assad or the opposition, but have to steer a clear independent path towards those masses we can reach with a class programme and perspective.

Socialism Today
Some of the minorities still seek shelter under the wing of Assad for fear of the consequences for them of an opposition victory, which clearly enjoys predominant support from the majority Sunni population, with a significant and growing influence of al Qaeda-type organisations. Moreover, the intervention of Turkey against the Assad regime has ratcheted up the tension between the two countries. Armed clashes could take place between them, which could then spiral out of control. The intervention of Shia-dominated Iran on the side of their co-religionists in Syria cannot be ruled out. Equally, the conflict could spill over into the Lebanon with the outbreak of sectarian conflict. This, in turn, could lead to Israel seeking the opportunity to launch air strikes against Iran’s alleged nuclear facilities, which would undoubtedly lead to retaliation with Iranian and Hezbollah rockets striking Israeli cities and facilities.
In the current conflict, the Israeli regime and the wider population have been taken aback by the capacity of Hamas rockets to strike in the very heart of even Tel Aviv. The CWI opposes the so-called ‘surgical strikes’ of Israel – which are nothing of the kind – that have resulted in at least 160 Palestinians being killed. But neither do we support the methods of Hamas, which has unleashed indiscriminate rocket fire into the heavily populated towns of Israel. This has only served to drive the population of Israel into the arms of Netanyahu, with a reported 85% supporting retaliatory action and 35% now supporting a ground invasion of Gaza, in which hundreds and thousands of Palestinians as well as Israelis would be killed and maimed. The Palestinian people have the right to resist the Israeli government’s terroristic methods but this can be best accomplished through mass movements against the encroachments in the occupied territories – with the aim of splitting the working class of Israel from support for the vicious Netanyahu regime. In the event of an invasion of Gaza or anywhere else in the occupied territories, the Palestinian people have every right to resist, with arms if necessary, against the invaders.
South African miners show the way
NOTWITHSTANDING THE influence of geopolitical factors such as wars on the course of events – which can seriously alter perspectives in some circumstances – the main features of the present situation are the deepening crisis of world capitalism and the combative response to this of the working class and the poor. This is symbolized by the magnificent reawakening of the South African working class led by the miners. The heroic strikes, like the earlier revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa, have inspired the working class in the advanced industrial countries. An element of ‘South Africa’ could also be transported to Europe through a similar movement within the trade unions to overthrow those leaders who refuse to organize the working class to resist the onslaught of capitalism.
Following the miners other sections of the South African working class resorted to action in a strike wave which is currently the biggest and bloodiest in the world. This has also been characterized by a high degree of consciousness, of socialist consciousness by the working class – a legacy which was not completely wiped out following the abortive revolution of the 1980s, which preceded the ending of apartheid. This is expressed in the demand for new fighting unions for the miners in place of the utterly corrupt mineworkers’ union, the NUM. Confronted with an equally corrupt ANC, the miners – with the assistance of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM – the South African section of the CWI) – have launched the call for a new mass workers’ party. This will strengthen a similar demand for independent working-class representation in all of those countries – the majority – where the mass of the workers have no party, even one which only partly represents them.
Even The Economist magazine, the voice of international big business, has stated: “The best hope for the country in years to come is a real split in the ANC between the populist left and the fat-cat right to offer a genuine choice for voters”. This seems surprising if not incredible at first glance. No capitalist journal advocates this for Britain! Yet what alarms The Economist is that so discredited has the ANC become – a gulf of Grand Canyon proportions now exists between the ANC’s lords, chiefs and kings, and the working class – that the impoverished masses have begun to turn sharply to the left and embraced real fighters and socialists, the members of the DSM. They will therefore move heaven and earth to try and prevent the masses moving in our direction, even if that means setting up a ‘populist’ alternative to a real mass workers’ party.
US elections
THE MOST IMPORTANT event in the past period, at least in the capitalist West, was the re-election of Obama in the US elections. He was the first president to be re-elected since 1945 with an unemployment rate above 7.5%. Some strategists of capital – including some who imagine they are, like George Osborne, the Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer – have drawn totally false conclusions from this election. They argue that the main reason why Obama was elected was because the American people blamed Bush, the previous president, for their present economic catastrophes. This undoubtedly was a factor but it was not the only one and not decisive. A big polarization took place with Obama voters – despite their disappointment since he was elected – turning out to prevent the candidate for the 0.01%, the rich, the plutocrats, from effectively winning the election through Romney.
There was a real fear of what a Romney victory would mean in turning back the wheel of history and undermining welfare, the limited health reforms, etc. This helped the turnout, which although not as high as 2008, was nevertheless quite high by historical standards. The popular vote was closer with Obama winning by 50.8% to 47.5% but, crucially, the majority of women supported him, with an even bigger majority of young women. He also won 80% of minority voters – Latinos and African-Americans, of course, while significant sections of unionized workers such as the auto workers, worked for and supported him. In this election it was not just a question of the victory of ‘lesser evilism’. That was there, of course, but significant layers were also prepared to give ‘more time’ to Obama to ‘fix the economy’. He will not, of course, be able to do this because of the character of this economic crisis, which will be drawn out.
The marvelous result of the Socialist Alternative candidate in Seattle for a Washington state House of Representatives seat, with a splendid 28% of the votes, was a triumph not just for the American comrades but for the whole of the CWI. It was confirmation of our idea of standing independent workers’ candidates leading to a new mass workers’ party. Moreover, this took place in the very heart of the strongest capitalist power in the world. This vote is a harbinger of what can be expected elsewhere, particularly in South Africa and Europe in the next period, and shows the potential which dialectically exists in the US for the ideas and programme of socialism. The heritage of social-democratic and Stalinist betrayals does not exist in the US. This makes it more favorable terrain for the genuine ideas of socialism than most places in Europe and elsewhere at this stage. So also is the victory of Obama from our point of view. His second term could prepare the way for a third party, but this time a popular, radical and socialist party of the working class. Of course, all perspectives are contingent on how the economy develops in the US and throughout the world.
World economy faces ‘chain of crises’
THE US ECONOMY – which is one of the few to regain the production levels of pre-2008 – has slowed to its weakest pace since 2009, growing at less than 2% while the world’s biggest economies have lost steam simultaneously. If the Republicans refuse a deal with Obama, if the US topples off the fiscal cliff, this could almost automatically plunge the world economy – which is basically stagnant – into a new deeper recession. The interests of capitalism should logically compel the Republicans to seek a deal with Obama. But the political system in the US, designed originally for an 18th century population of predominantly small farmers, is now completely dysfunctional, along with the Republican Party. Obama, in one of his more revealing outbursts speaking to American bankers in 2009, stated: “My administration is all that stands between you and the pitchforks”. But in the election, this did not earn him the support of the American bourgeois as a whole who favored Romney in the main. This just goes to show that a class does not always recognize its own best interests! It is the strategists and the thinkers of the ruling class, sometimes in opposition to those that they supposedly represent, who are prepared to stand up for the best interests of the capitalists and chart a way forward. The problem for them today is that the choice is between different roads to ruin for capitalism.
The decay, their loss of confidence, is evident in their refusal to invest, as well as the warnings from the hallowed institutions of capitalism: the IMF, the World Bank, etc. Their predictions of a quick escape from the present crisis have been dashed and they have now swung over to complete pessimism. Cameron and the Governor of the Bank of England warn that the crisis might last another decade; the IMF whistles a similar tune. The theme first employed in Japan of ‘zombie banks’ is now used to describe not just the banks but the economies of America, Europe and Japan. And like Japan, bourgeois economists are predicting a ‘lost decade’ for some countries and for Europe as a whole. A comparison with the 19th century depression from 1873 to 1896 is being made, at least for Europe. Martin Wolf in the Financial Times mused, “is the age of unlimited growth over?”, extensively quoting from a new study, Is US Economic Growth Over? Faltering Innovation Confronts the Six Headwinds. (NBER Working Paper no 18315)
This raised the vital question of the role of innovation in the development of capitalism, and particularly in driving forward the productivity of labor. The authors of the above study concluded that there have been “three industrial revolutions” since 1750 that have been crucial in the development of capitalism. The first was roughly between 1750 and 1830, which created steam engines, cotton spinning, railways, etc. The second was the most important with its three central inventions of electricity, the internal combustion engine, and running water with indoor plumbing, in the relatively short period of 1870 to 1900. Both these revolutions required about 100 years for the full effects to percolate through the economy. After 1970, productivity growth slowed markedly for a number of reasons. The computer and internet revolution – described by the authors as industrial revolution three (IR3) – reached its climax in the dot-com era of the late 1990s. But its main impact on productivity, they say, has withered away in the past eight years. They conclude that since the year 2000 invention has been largely concentrated on entertainment and communication devices that are smaller, smarter and more capable but do not fundamentally change labor productivity or the standard of living in the way that electric light, motorcars or indoor plumbing did. This is not to say that there are not the potential inventions for enormously lifting productivity but the dilemma is the current state of capitalism in decline, which is incapable of developing the full potential of the productive forces. The tendency for the rate of profit to fall – and actual falls in profitability – discourages the capitalists from taking up inventions which can develop the productive forces.
Then there is the problem of ‘demand’ which in turn has led to an ‘investment strike’, with a minimum of $2 trillion of ‘unemployed capital’ in the cash piles of US companies. And, on top of this, exists the colossal debt overhang. Satyajit Das in the Financial Times berates the American bourgeois who “seem unable to handle the truth – the prospect of little or no economic growth for a prolonged period… Ever increasing borrowings are needed to sustain growth. By 2008 $4-$5 of debt was required to create one dollar of US growth, up from $1-$2 in the 1950s. China now needs $6-$8 of credit to generate one dollar of growth; an increase from $1 to $2 15-20 years ago”.
Capitalism faces not one crisis but a chain of crises. They are trying to reconcile the working class to the prospect of little or no growth and therefore of severely reduced living standards, as Greece demonstrates. We must counter this through our programme and emphasize the limitless possibilities – evident even today – if society was organised on a more rational, planned way through socialism.
Europe’s intractable crisis
THE ECONOMIC CRISIS in Europe is the most serious facing world capitalism. So intractable does the crisis appear, with austerity clearly not working, that a spat has broken out, with the IMF warning against the ‘excessive austerity’ applied by national governments in Europe with the benediction of the EU authorities and the European Central Bank (ECB). On the one side the ECB has sought to implement, like the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, a form of Keynesianism through the purchase of government bonds as well as cheap loans to some banks and countries. On the other hand, these very same authorities – the ‘troika’ – have been the instruments for austerity policies. They have been stung by the implied criticism of the IMF, which has pointed out that a negative ‘multiplier effect’ operates when severe austerity is implemented – cuts in government expenditure, loss of jobs, etc – and therefore reduced income to the state. The ECB and national governments counter with the ‘absolute necessity’ to cut state spending, accompanied by all the other measures of austerity, privatization, etc. Despite all the pleas and expectations of growth, austerity has had the effect of snuffing out even the economic embers that remained during the crisis.
It is true that Keynesian policies have failed to generate growth. In the current situation, it is like ‘pushing on a piece of string’. This has led born-again Keynesians, such as former Thatcherite monetarist Samuel Brittan, to lobby for bolder measures; he advocates what amounts to a giant game of ‘treasure hunt’ in a desperate attempt to get the economy moving again. He suggests, only half-humorously, that hordes of cash should be buried and then the adventurous souls who discover it will then go out and spend it! There is no indication of this happening, however. The largess that has been distributed so far has been used to clear debts not to increase spending. This is an indication of the desperation of the ruling class for some improvement at this stage. Keynesianism has been partially tried and failed but this does not mean that, faced with a revolutionary explosion, the capitalists would not resort to far-reaching Keynesian measures. Concessions can be given and then the capitalists will attempt to take them back through inflation at a later stage.
Even now, the EU authorities are attempting to avoid the default of Greece by suggesting that more time is given for its debts to be paid off. This will not prevent the savage attacks on the Greek working class, which are being applied remorselessly by the EU. Nor will it solve the basic problems of Greece which will still be lumbered with colossal debts. Therefore, a Greek default is still likely, which will have huge repercussions throughout Europe, including Germany, which is heavily indebted to the banks of other countries. It is even possible that Germany itself could take the initiative of leaving the euro, such is the political opposition within Germany itself to bail-outs. Even the proposal to give Greece more time to pay off its debts is meeting with opposition from the German capitalists because it means writing off a small portion of their debt. It is possible that, in relation to Spain and some other countries, the ‘can will be kicked further down the road’. But eventually the can will become too big to kick! Therefore, a breakup of the eurozone still remains on the cards.
Even the Chinese express alarm at the turn of events in Europe with a top Chinese official, Ji Liqun, sitting on top of a massive state-controlled sovereign wealth fund of £300 billion, warning that the European public are at ‘breaking point’. He had previously argued that Europeans should work harder but now recognizes that the depth of public anger could lead to a ‘complete discarding’ of austerity programmes. “The fact the public are taking to the streets and resorting to violence indicates the general public’s tolerance has hit its limits”, he commented. “Unions are now involved in organised protests; demonstrations and strikes. It smacks of the 1930s”. Not least of his unspoken concerns is that the example set by the European working class could spill over into China itself as well as his fear for Chinese investments in Europe.
Greece is the key
EUROPE IS THE key to the world situation at the present time, where the class struggle is at its sharpest and with the greatest opportunity for a breakthrough for left and revolutionary forces. But if this is so, then Greece is therefore the key to the situation in Europe, with Spain and Portugal not far behind in the chain of weak links of European capitalism. As Trotsky said of Spain in the 1930s, not one but three or four revolutions would have been possible if the Greek workers had a farsighted leadership and mass party at their head. A Greek computer programmer on the day of the recent general strike commented to the Guardian newspaper in Britain: “Personally, I’m amazed there hasn't been a revolution”. British TV also commented that just 3% of the population actually supports the austerity measures of the government and the troika. With all the agonies that the Greek people are being forced to endure, by the end of the present austerity programme the debt of Greece will still be 192% of GDP! In other words, there is absolutely no chance that this debt will be paid. Nevertheless, endless austerity is the future that capitalism has decreed for the Greek people.
All the conditions for revolution are not just ripe but rotten ripe. Nineteen one-day general strikes – out of which four have been 48 hour strikes and the rest 24-hour strikes – testify to the colossal reserves of energy of the Greek workers and their preparedness to resist. However, they have concluded that, in the teeth of what has been a magnificent struggle, the troika and the Greek capitalists have still not budged and it is therefore necessary to turn to the political front, towards the idea of a left government able to show a way out of the crisis. This is despite the fact that there is skepticism towards Syriza and its leadership on the part of the masses. Significant sections of the masses are prepared to support Syriza, which currently receives as much as 30% in some of the polls, but are not prepared to join and actively engage within its ranks. There is an element of this in many countries. Big disappointment at the failure of the workers’ parties has led to extreme skepticism towards them, even those formally standing on the left. There is a willingness to support left formations and parties in elections, but not to devote time and energy to engaging in their ranks and building them. Workers have been disappointed in the past and fear being let down once more. This mood, of course, can and will be changed once they see these parties actually carrying out what they promise. Instead of moving in a leftward direction, however, left parties in general and Syriza in particular have tended to move to the right, watering down their programme and opening their doors even to ex-leaders of social democracy who have played an open strike-breaking role in the very recent period.
In the circumstances of Greece, the flexible tactics employed by our Greek comrades, while remaining firm programmatically, meet the needs of a very complex situation. We have to have an eye not just for those left forces within Syriza but also to the sizable forces outside, whom in some cases are re-evaluating past political positions. We cannot give a timescale as to when the present government will collapse – as it surely will – with the likely coming to power of a Syriza-led left government. But we have to prepare for such an eventuality with the aim of pushing such a government towards the left, while at the same time helping to create democratic popular committees which can both support the government against the right but also pressurize it into taking measures in defense of the working class. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that a new significant semi-mass force can emerge through the tactics in which we are presently engaged.
This will involve not just a concentration on developments on the left and in the workers’ parties but also against the danger posed by the far right and specifically from the rise of the fascist Golden Dawn, whose support recently rose to 14% at one stage in the opinion polls, but has now declined to around 10%. One of the reasons for this is the formation of mass anti-fascist committees, which we have helped to initiate and have drawn in workers, youth and refugees. This work assumes exceptional importance and could be a model for the kind of situation that may confront the working class in many other countries in the future.
If the working class and the left fail to carry through a socialist revolution, history attests to the fact that they will pay a heavy price as a consequence. The social tensions which exist in Greece cannot be contained forever within the framework of ‘democracy’. There is already a veiled civil war with more than 90% of the population pitted against the ‘one per cent’ and this can break out into an open conflict in the future. Some far-right elements in Greece have mooted the idea of a dictatorship but this is not immediately on the agenda. Any premature move that seeks to emulate the 1967 military coup could provoke an all-out general strike like the Kapp putsch did in Germany in 1920 and a revolutionary situation. Also a coup would not be acceptable at this stage to imperialism, the ‘international community’, in this era of ‘democracy and conflict resolution’.
The capitalists, in the first instance, are more likely to resort to a form of parliamentary Bonapartism, like Monti’s government in Italy but more authoritarian. The fraught economic and social position of Greece will demand a much firmer and more pronounced right wing government than in Italy, with the powers to overrule parliament in an ‘emergency’. If this does not work, and a series of governments of a similar character are incapable of breaking the social deadlock, and if the working class, through a revolutionary party, fails to take power, then the Greek capitalists could go over to an open dictatorship. We have to warn the working class that we still have time in Greece but we have to utilize this in order to prepare a force that can carry through socialist change. The response throughout Europe to the strike on 14 November illustrates how the struggles of the working class are bound together. If the Greek workers were to break the chain of capitalism and appeal to the workers of Western Europe, at the very least to those in southern Europe, there would be a big response to the call for a socialist confederation – probably involving Spain, Portugal and maybe Ireland in the first instance, if not Italy.
China at the crossroads
US IMPERIALISM HAS identified Asia as a key area – more important than Europe, for instance, strategically and economically – shown by the fact that the first visit of Obama after his victory in the US presidential election was made to the region. This was partly to reaffirm the economic stake of US imperialism but also served as a warning to China of the importance of US military strategic interest. It was felt to be necessary because of the new military assertiveness of China, which was revealed in its recent naval clashes with Japan over uninhabited disputed islands. Japan is beginning to build up its military forces, of course, for ‘ defense’ alone! This means that Asia will become a new and dangerous theater of military conflict with the rise of nationalism and the possibility of outright conflict, where the contending powers will be prepared to confront each other, with weapons if necessary, in order to enhance their influence, power and economic stake.
China is the colossus of Asia, the second power in the world after the US. How it develops will exercise a big, perhaps decisive, effect on the region and the world. And China is certainly at the crossroads, as its ruling elite well understands. Like many a ruling group in history, it feels the contradictory tensions swelling up from below and is unsure how to deal with them. Chinese scholars described the current situation of the country to The Economist as “unstable at the grassroots, dejected at the middle strata, and out of control at the top”. In other words, the ingredients of revolution are brewing in China at the present time. The spectacular growth rate of 12% is a thing of the past. It is now like a like a car stuck in snow: the wheels churn but the vehicle does not advance. Growth has probably contracted to between 5% and 7%. The regime claims that there has been a certain ‘recovery’ but it is not expected to return to double-digit growth. This will automatically affect perspectives for the world economy. A growth rate above 10% was only possible through a massive injection of resources, at one-time amounting to a colossal and unprecedented 50% of GDP invested into industry. This, in turn, generated discontent: resentment against growing inequality and environmental degradation as well as communally-owned land being illegally snatched by greedy officials.
These and the sweatshop conditions in the factories have generated enormous opposition from the masses with 180,000 public demonstrations in 2010 – and it is has grown since then – compared to the official estimate of 40,000 in 2002. The removal of the ‘iron rice bowl’ and attacks on healthcare and education have added to this discontent. This has forced the leadership to reintroduce a modicum of health cover. How to handle this volcano and which route economically to take haunts the Chinese leadership. The village of Wukan rose a year ago and successfully fought running battles with the police to reclaim land which had been stolen from them by the local bureaucracy. This was symptomatic of what lies just below the surface in China, a subterranean revolt that can break out any time. On this occasion, the local officials retreated but, also, the protesters did not follow through with their movement. It seems that this incident and many others are “small uprisings that continually bubble up across China”. (Financial Times)
Many of the protagonists naively believe that if only the lords in Beijing knew the scale of corruption, they would intervene to stamp it out. Something similar occurred in Russia under Stalinism. The masses initially tended to absolve Stalin of any responsibility for corruption of which he was ‘unaware’. It was all down to the crimes of the local bureaucracy but not Stalin himself. But the arrest of Bo Xilai and trial of his wife have helped to dispel those illusions. He has been accused of abusing his position by amassing a fortune, accepting ‘huge bribes’, and to have promoted his cronies to high positions. Bo, as a member of the top elite – a princeling, a son of a leader of the Chinese revolution – is accused of complicity in murder, bribery and massive corruption. This naturally poses the question of how he was allowed to get away with this for so long. In reality, it was not these crimes – true though they probably are – which led to his arrest and impending trial. It was because he represented a certain danger to the top elite – in going outside this ‘magic circle’ – and campaigning for the top job. Even more dangerous was that he invoked some of the radical phrases of Maoism, associated with the Cultural Revolution. In so doing, he could have unconsciously unleashed forces that he would not be able to control, which could go further and demand action against the injustices of the regime. And who knows where this could have ended?
The Chinese regime is in crisis. It is quite obviously divided as to the next steps – particularly in relation to the economy – which should be undertaken. One princeling commenting to the Financial Times put it brutally: “The best time for China is over and the entire system needs to be overhauled”. Bourgeois commentators in journals like The Economist, the Financial Times, the New York Times, etc, have recently resorted to the terminology which the CWI has used in describing China as ‘state capitalist’. They do not add the proviso that we do, of ‘state capitalist, but with unique features’. This is necessary in order to differentiate our analysis from the crude position of the SWP and others, who incorrectly described the planned economies in the past in this fashion. The direction of travel of China is clear. The capitalist sector has grown at the expense of the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the past. But recently, and particularly since the stimulus package of 2008, there has been a certain recentralization with economic power tending to be concentrated more in the state sector, so much so that SOEs now have assets worth 75% of total GDP. On the other hand, The Economist described China in the following fashion: “Experts disagree on whether the state now makes up half or a third of economic output, but agree the share is lower than it was two decades ago. For years from the late 1990s SOEs appeared to be in retreat. Their numbers declined (to around 114,000 in 2010, some 100 of them centrally controlled national champions), and their share of employment dropped. But now, even while the number of private companies has grown, the retreat of the state has slowed and, in some industries, reversed”.
It is clear that a ferocious discussion is taking place behind closed doors amongst the elite. ‘Reformers’ favor a more determined programme of dismantling the state sector and moving more and more towards the ‘market’. They are proposing to lift remaining barriers to the entry and operation of foreign capital. The new ‘leader’ Xi Jinping, despite his ritualistic incantation of ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’, is rumored to support the reformers. On the other hand, those who have proposed an opening up, both in the economy but also with limited ‘democratic’ reforms, seem to be side-lined. Studies have been made of how former dictatorships like South Korea allegedly managed the ‘cold transition’ towards ‘democracy’. These took place when the boom had not exhausted itself and even then was against the background of mass movements. China’s proposed ‘transition’ is taking place in the midst of a massive economic crisis. China’s rulers are rumored to be avidly studying Gorbachev’s role in Russia. He began intending to ‘reform’ the system and ended up presiding over its dismantlement. Serious reforms from the top will provoke revolution from below in today’s China. It cannot be excluded that a period of very weak ‘democracy’ – but with power still in the hands of the old forces, like in Egypt today with the army and the Muslim Brotherhood in power – could develop after a revolutionary upheaval in China. But this would be merely a prelude to the opening of the gates to one of the biggest mass movements in history.
Conclusions
FOUR TO FIVE years into a devastating world economic crisis, we can conclude that there are very favorable prospects for the growth of Marxism. With the necessary qualification that consciousness – the broad outlook of the working class – has yet to catch up with the objective situation, it can still be described as pre-revolutionary, especially when taken on a world scale. The productive forces no longer advance but stagnate and decline. This has been accompanied by a certain disintegration socially of sections of the working class and the poor. At the same time, new layers of the working class as well as sections of the middle class are being created – proletarianized – and compelled to adopt the traditional methods of the working class of strikes and trade union organisation. The potential power of the working class remains intact, although hampered and weakened by the right-wing trade union leadership as well as by social democracy and the communist parties.
The CWI has not made a decisive breakthrough as yet in any country or continent. However, we have retained our overall position in terms of membership and especially increased influence within the labor movement. There are many workers who are sympathetic to and watching us, and on the basis of events and our work can join us. We must face up to the situation by educating and preparing our supporters for the tumultuous next period in which great opportunities will be presented to strengthen the organisations and parties of the CWI and the International as a whole.


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Fast Food Workers in NYC Rise Up — The beginning of a low-wage workers’ rebellion?
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Dec 5, 2012
By Jesse Lessinger, New York City
On November 29, workers at dozens of fast food restaurants in New York City walked off the job, formed pickets outside and raised demands for higher wages, better hours, and union rights. It was a truly inspiring moment to see workers who suffer silently in the margins come forward to speak up for themselves.
It is a myth that fast food jobs are just for youth looking to make some extra cash. There are nearly 50,000 fast food workers in New York, and for many it's their only means of earning income for themselves and their families.
Fast food work is more than just flipping burgers. Workers in fast food kitchens have to deal with workplace hazards like hot grease that often burns them (most have the scars to prove it). They work for minimum wage at $7.25, and many depend on food stamps and other government assistance. With so little weekly take-home pay some are forced to live in shelters. In fact, McDonald’s is reported to have recruited workers at homeless shelters.
Workers strike
In Midtown Manhattan, where workers from Burger King, Wendy's, KFC, and other restaurants walked out, the super-exploitation of fast food workers stands side by side with all the glitz and glamour of New York City high-end commerce, shopping, and tourism.
But now these heroic workers are taking a stand, and we as socialists, give them our unconditional support. It’s part of a campaign called Fast Food Forward, backed by New York Communities for Change (NYCC), UnitedNY.org, the Black Institute, and SEIU. It is the biggest attempt ever to organize fast food workers.
One of their demands is for $15 per hour in pay. This is significant, as many low-wage battles have called for much more modest pay increases. By asking for $15 they're going beyond saying they want a little more. The message is: “we deserve a living wage.” In truth, $15 per hour in New York City is not enough to live on for some, especially those with families, but it’s an enormous step in that direction.
Fast food workers are not the only ones taking bold measures to fight for better conditions. On Black Friday there were actions at upwards of 1,000 Walmarts across the country, with workers demanding union rights, no retaliation for speaking up, better hours, and $13 per hour in pay. These actions were not just one-off events, but are part of an on-going campaign of Walmart workers.
Taking on corporate giants
Fast food companies are expected to bring in $200 billion in revenue this year. Walmart's revenues in 2011 totaled $477 billion with $15.7 billion of that being pure profit. The Walmart family alone now owns as much wealth as the entire bottom 40% of families in the U.S. This obscene wealth is not created by smart business people making smart business decisions, it comes off the backs of their highly exploited workers, who are rewarded for their hard work with poverty wages.
Here in New York there have also been a number of battles recently to organize low-wage workers, predominantly among immigrants. Six grocery stores have been organized in Brooklyn. There are now four recently unionized car washes as well. They are fighting for higher wages and back pay. Also recently, workers at a Hot & Crusty bakery staged an occupation and 55-day picket to win union recognition. These are examples of the new self-organizing of workers into action, backed by the support of the community. Their employers caved because of their bold action.
But fast food companies and Walmart are much bigger employers and enormously powerful corporations that have and will continue to fight tooth and nail to prevent a union from forming. The actions last week received media attention all across the country and even forced McDonald’s to issue a statement saying they were committed to dialogue to be an “even better employer”. Do they really expect us to believe that? But it will take more than just bad publicity.
The Fast Food Forward campaign is a step in the right direction. Rather than organizing a single restaurant or chain, the campaign is aiming to organize the entire industry in New York City at once. A strategy is needed for highly coordinated actions on a truly massive scale if we're going to bring these corporations to heel. We'll need strikes and walkouts at hundreds of fast food stores with visible pickets outside everywhere backed up by thousands of Occupy and trade union activists and other supporters. This will require preparation and the workers themselves taking ownership of their struggle by forming their own workplace committees and linking them together to develop a strategy and coordinate action.
The struggle at these massive companies should be linked to a broader struggle to mobilize millions for the rights of all workers. Imagine if there were rolling walkouts at hundreds of restaurants, shops, groceries, and retail outlets all across the city demanding an across-the-board wage increase and union recognition for all!
NYC elections
We can also have no faith in Democrats, who like the Republicans are a party of the Wall Street and big business. In New York City, the mayoral hopeful and current Democratic city councilor, Christine Quinn, has made gestures of support for fast food workers, seeking to tap the support of workers for the 2013 election. But Quinn is deep in the back pocket of rich business owners. She even opposes legislation requiring employers to give all workers sick pay, so how can she be trusted to support a living wage?
Workers need to rely on their numeric strength and social power as the economic foundation of society. This power should not be sacrificed to corporate politicians at the ballot box. A far better way to impact elections and take the struggle forward would be to run a slate of working-class independent candidates for city council seats and mayor in 2013 on a platform of living-wage jobs and union rights for all. Such a campaign could act as a collective voice for the struggle of low-wage workers in the election while striking a powerful blow against the corporate politicians that have stacked the deck against the 99%.
A sleeping giant
Despite the corporate character of the Democratic Party, the defeat of the right wing in the 2012 elections is likely to give workers confidence. None of the underlying problems that gave birth to the Occupy movement have been solved, and 2013 is likely to be a year of renewed and potentially explosive struggles in the U.S.
The huge mass of low-wage workers is like a sleeping giant, that when roused could strike a mighty blow at the 1% and radically transform U.S. society. These young, energetic class fighters would provide fresh blood to revitalize the labor movement as organizations of class struggle, not class collaboration. Having been through the experience of what capitalism in the 21st century means – i.e. low wage jobs and miserable working conditions – support for socialist ideas would surge.
It may be too early to say that we're on the cusp of a low-wage worker rebellion, but one thing is for certain: this type of resistance is the music of the future and right now low-wage workers’ struggles should be a rallying point for Occupy activists looking to fight for the 99%, for trade unionists who are seeking to reinvigorate the labor movement, and for everyone who is ready to fight for the interests of working people and youth.


Socialist Alternative, P.O. Box 45343, Seattle WA 98145
Phone: (206)526-7185
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Egypt: Hundreds of thousands protest President Mursi’s power grab
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Dec 7, 2012
By David Johnson, Socialist Party (CWI England and Wales)
Democratic, trade union and women’s rights under attack
Large number of demonstrators clashed with state forces outside the presidential palace in Cairo on 4 December over attempts by President Mursi to grab new powers. Marchers chanted that "the people want the downfall of the regime", and held placards bearing slogans of "no to the constitution". It was reported that during the clashes Morsi fled the palace from a side gate in a convoy.
This follows days of large protests. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians showed their objection earlier to President Mursi’s power grab, packing into Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Tuesday 27 November. Textile workers at Egypt’s largest factory, Misr Spinning, were joined by other workers and families in a 5,000-strong protest march in Mahalla. The Muslim Brotherhood called off their demonstration planned for the same day.
But two days later a new draft constitution was rushed through the Constituent Assembly after a 15-hour sitting. Secular liberal members, women and Christians in the Assembly had walked out in protest at the draft earlier in November.

Protest in front of presidential palace
Last Friday, another huge anti-Mursi protest gathered in Tahrir Square, along with other big demonstrations in other cities. An estimated 5,000 continued to occupy Tahrir. But the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists have also mobilized their supporters, holding a very large demonstration in another part of the city on Saturday 1 December.
Mursi has hastily called a referendum on 15 December to approve the new constitution. His rush may be a reaction to the massive opposition to his power grab, which he conceded would only last until a new constitution was in place.
Undemocratic draft constitution
The draft constitution contains many clauses that could be used to restrict opposition to the government in the future. It states that, “The individual person may not be insulted.” Mubarak used similar methods to gag opponents to his rule. Criminal prosecutions on charges of “insulting the president” have actually increased since Mursi took office.
It leaves open the possibility of journalists’ imprisonment in cases related to freedom of expression. Journalists at twelve newspapers and five privately-owned TV stations are taking 24-hour strike action in protest this week.
A chat show host on the state-owned TV has protested at the “Brotherhoodisation of the media” after her show was withdrawn. She speculated that this could have been because a retired State Security Investigation Services officer was a guest on the show and would have revealed the good relationship some Muslim Brotherhood members had with the security forces under Mubarak.
The draft allows civilians to be tried in military courts “for crimes that harm the armed forces.” As the draft also leaves intact the military’s economic interests, this could open up workers in military-owned companies to face military trial for strikes or occupations. Again, the Mubarak regime had a similar law.
Women’s rights are left vague and open to different interpretations. Already women and girls have been assaulted and had their hair forcibly cut for not wearing the veil in public. The police are given powers to “preserve public morality”, opening the prospect of restrictions on civil liberties, including rights to assembly, freedom of speech and expression, as seen in Iran or Saudi Arabia. The eight million Christians feel particularly threatened by such powers.

Protest against the Muslim Brotherhood
Trade union rights under attack
Prime Minister Hisham Qandeel has said the government was committed to enhancing “the business environment…making Egypt an ideal destination for foreign direct investments.”
On the same day that Mursi announced his temporary unchallengeable powers, Decree No.97 on trade unions was published. It aims to strangle the growing independent trade unions and strengthen the Muslim Brotherhood’s position in the trade union movement. Only one union would be allowed in each company, preventing new independent unions from challenging the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF).
This goes hand in hand with an attempt by the Muslim Brotherhood to seize control of the ETUF. All members of the ETUF executive over 60 years old (most of them) will be replaced. The Minister of Manpower (a Muslim Brotherhood member) will appoint the new members. Before the January 25th 2011 revolution, 22 of 24 members of the ETUF executive were members of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party. The last elections were held in 2006 and new ones should have taken place in October-November 2011. They were postponed because of parliamentary elections taking place at that time. The Brotherhood aim to replace Mubarak’s appointees with their own people.
Class divisions among Islamist supporters
Support for Mursi in opinion polls has fallen from 78% to 57% in the past seven weeks. Many demonstrating against Mursi told reporters that they had voted for him five months ago. But the size of the pro-Mursi demonstrations shows that there is still a large layer prepared to turn out in his support. Polls indicate that he has more support in the countryside and among those who have not been to university.
While protesting alongside liberals against Mursi’s power grab and the undemocratic draft constitution, socialists need to make clear their separate identity. A socialist constitution would include genuine democratic rights for all, as well as the right to freedom from poverty, homelessness and illiteracy. Free education and healthcare, pensions for the elderly and disabled, a decent minimum wage – these are all fundamental rights that will not be conceded by capitalist politicians, whether from right wing Islamist or liberal secular parties. Workers need their own party. Appealing to workers, the poor and the youth with a socialist programme of revolutionary change can split away support from the right wing political Islamist parties.


Socialist Alternative, P.O. Box 45343, Seattle WA 98145
Phone: (206)526-7185
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Boston Subway Collision : We Need A Fight-Back Against Transit Cuts
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Dec 11, 2012
By Joshua H. Koritz and Ryan Mosgrove
On November 29 in Boston, two subway trains crashed into one another at the Boylston stop downtown, sending around 35 people to the hospital. Thankfully, none of these injuries were life-threatening, but the incident raises serious concerns about the state of the public transit system here in Boston.
This is the second accident on the Green Line in the past two months, with the last one, which injured three people, occurring in early October near Brigham Circle on the E Line. The increased frequency of accidents has occurred against the backdrop of the service cuts and fare increases last spring. The Boston transit service is not just the oldest in the country, but also the deepest in debt, saddled with over $5 billion in debt and a deficit of nearly $160 million dollars (see the 2009 study "Born Broke").
The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) has made it clear that paying this debt is their highest priority. Yearly budgets hold debt payments – over $300 million per year – as untouchable; instead, they propose cutting bus routes, hugely raising fares, cutting employee health care, and making mass layoffs.
Austerity measures - such as the T fare hikes - will continue, as any economic recovery will be diverted into the pockets of big business. Already the MBTA debt is owed to big banks and rich investors. Everywhere across the U.S. and internationally, public services are cut and unions attacked while the debts owed to multibillion dollar banks are off the table. 2013 promises to be a year of struggle and fighting back. The fight for public transportation to be affordable and well-funded is shaping up to be a major battle here in Boston.
In the spring of 2012, softened by a one-time payout from the state government, the MBTA instituted a 23% fare increase on riders across the board, a plan far less severe than its initial proposals. This came with the warning that this was a stopgap, and that they would be back for more next year. Richard A. Davey, the transportation secretary for the city, has already been discussing the need for fare hikes and service cuts if the city doesn’t find a “long-term solution” to the deficit. Last year the MBTA held public meetings on the budget cuts in communities across Boston. Roughly 6,000 people attended these meetings where the anger of the community against the attacks was on display. Unfortunately, these hearings amounted to a pressure valve for the community to let off steam and feel like the MBTA was listening to their concerns, when in fact it was all just a smokescreen.
The Transit Riders’ Union (TRU) advanced a strategy of directly petitioning state politicians, along with publicity stunts. While these actions may have had some impact, they did nothing to harness the anger and energy that the thousands of ordinary people had.
Once these cuts had taken effect, Socialist Alternative united with activists from Occupy Boston, Common Struggle, and the IWW to form a coalition to organize fare evasions as a tactic to resist the fare hikes. This tactic, even with small numbers, attracted the attention of many people, including media outlets.
The MBTA is already preparing to attack working people again through service cuts and fare hikes, but this time we can be ready. We cannot accept cuts and we cannot accept attacks on transit worker pay or benefits. The excellent work from the summer of 2012 building for fare strikes and evasions should be taken up again: We have to start laying the groundwork immediately and creating a coalition between riders and transit workers if we want to win!
Workers and activists in Boston should organize meetings across the city to prepare people for what is coming and how to act. When the MBTA holds their meetings this time, activists should be prepared to intervene in these meetings and, if possible, even shut them down and turn them into a discussion about how the T can be made sustainable without selling out the community.
Debt held by big corporations and the 1% should be canceled. The major employers in the Boston area could not exist without public transportation and should be taxed to improve and expand it. We reject any additional taxes on working people, such as a “gas tax” or any other regressive proposals.
We should organize meetings to coordinate fare strikes across the city, reaching out to the workers who operate the T to support fare strikes and to consider workplace actions themselves. In 2006, public transit workers in New York City showed the power that transit workers have when they go on strike.
The reality is that there is a “long-term solution” to fixing the MBTA. Debt should be repaid on the basis of real need. There are hundreds of wealthy businesses and institutions like Harvard that receive tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks or subsidies and give back very little to the community. These businesses need the T because they need the workers in order to make a profit, and those workers can’t get to work if the T doesn’t run. Also, Forward Funding legislation should be repealed, which would put funding for the T back into the state budget, and further funding should come from the top 1%, not working people.
Whatever we win from the bosses is only temporary unless we can provide an alternative to capitalism altogether. Until these cuts are seriously addressed, accidents like the one last Thursday will be a regular occurrence. No service cuts! No fare hikes! No cuts in transit worker benefits and no layoffs! Cancel the MBTA debt and make big business and the 1% pay!


Socialist Alternative, P.O. Box 45343, Seattle WA 98145
Phone: (206)526-7185
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