NEW YORK — The lesson of Wisconsin state workers was that instead of accepting whatever the state government gives us, we should organize mass struggle. For that, they received overwhelming workers’ support.  Here, it’s a different story.

The CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association) union sold out NY government workers in a projected agreement with the state that attacks the living standards of 66,000 workers in the operational services unit. The Governor of NY, Andrew Cuomo, congratulated the union leadership, in a communication sent in June that reads: “The union has worked very hard to get an agreement that benefits its membership in these difficult times.”

“This is sheer hypocrisy,” was the comment from one NYS worker, who asked, “how does this benefit the workers if we are not getting a raise for two years? How is this beneficial when we’d only get a 2% raise in 2015 and 2016? They don’t see the impact of the high cost of living, the increases in rents, transportation, and gas? To make matters worse they are taking more out of our pay for health insurance — giving our money to the “poor” corporations that are already sucking our blood; how is that?”

Who Benefits From Workers’ Sacrifice?

During the third week of June several state workers were fired. One of them had a salary of $32,000 a year, but in a few days another person making twice as much, $65,000 a year, replaced him, to do exactly the same job. That’s only one example of the way state bureaucracy works.

The majority of the jobs lost, though, were in the lower-wage levels, and have not been replaced, making twice as much work for those still holding a job.  The job and wage cuts are both racist and sexist, as the workers affected are black, Latino and women.

Meanwhile, at the higher levels, bureaucracy is growing, as is the case in SUNY Downstate, where a new position as president assistant (with a bloated salary) appeared overnight. There is no talk of sacrifice at that level.

The sacrifice that Obama, Cuomo and friends are talking about is the sacrifice of workers. We’re told that the crisis is everyone’s problem. But when things get better and the bosses are making money, we don’t get pay raises or better services; there is no talk of sharing the wealth.

Make the Bosses Pay For Their Crisis

The state makes billions collecting our taxes, the big shots get the most money and those of us who do all the work get paid a small portion of any company’s budget. Meanwhile, the war eats up billions of dollars. It is a lie that there is no money; the crisis is the product of the war and the bosses’ own greed for profits.  Let the bosses bear the brunt of their crisis; we shouldn’t have to pay for it.

Union Leadership Always Helps the Bosses

The union didn’t talk to us first, because the union didn’t want to fight.  Reading the small print of the proposed contract, it is clearly stated that: “The reduction of the labor force or the closing of departments will be done by the heads of departments.” The union leadership, meanwhile, pushes the lie that there won’t be any layoffs, and that’s the reason why they were forced to sign an agreement that doesn’t include a pay raise.

There was not even a small attempt to fight back. The union leadership was in a hurry to sign an agreement, and made a call to the workers to help “solve” the crisis.  They only want us to rubber-stamp what they’ve already agreed to with the bosses. The union leadership treats us like recyclable trash to be used to keep their plush salaries rolling in. The union is just there to defend the bosses’ interests — giving in and surrendering everything that we workers fought for and achieved through years of struggles and many sacrifices.

The Reality of the Working Class

We grow poorer by the day; we are carrying the burden of a capitalist system in crisis, and we’re at the end of our rope. We’re barely surviving.  We work just to pay rent, eat and support the capitalist parasites that squeeze us as hard as they can with their taxes. We are now living in a historical period dominated by inter-imperialist rivalry. U.S. bosses have needed to spend billions of dollars in their wars to profit from and control the flow of oil that their capitalist rivals in Europe, China and throughout Asia need to keep their economies going.

The U.S. capitalists’ fight to maintain their top-dog position in gathering international profits leads to the worsening of the economic and political situation worldwide: the unemployment of millions of workers who end up in the streets, and medical services not only getting worse but becoming nonexistent for millions of workers.

As workers we have the power to sweep this mafia off the face of the earth and to build our own system, A COMMUNIST SYSTEM, as the only solution. In this new system, we won’t need money because we’d work only for the things that we need, such as housing, health care, education, food and recreation. In the past, workers in the Soviet Union and China demonstrated that this can be achieved with workers’ power even though their gains have been reversed through alliances with capitalists. PLP will not repeat that mistake and will build real communism without bosses and their profits.

Health workers, teachers, students, parents, organized in Progressive Labor Party can be an incredible force. We can understand that the conditions of workers everywhere in the world are our own conditions. The growth of our working-class consciousness will enable our forces worldwide to defeat, once and for all, the abusive, blood-sucking capitalist system.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, July 27 — In preparation for a probable strike of the 62,000 Southern California grocery workers, approximately 300 mostly black, Latino and women grocery workers and supporters, rallied and marched this week. The two paths open to workers were on display: On the one hand, the NAACP and the workers’ union, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) push strategies of compromise and concession, proven to lead to wage-cuts and attacks on pensions. PLP, on the other hand, was there with the message that this and other strikes are training grounds, where workers learn that united, we can smash capitalism and its racist exploitation.

Due to capitalist competition, Ralph’s, Albertson’s, Von’s and other chains must continually strive to maximize their profits. The result is a race to the bottom for workers as their wages and benefits are attacked. Now, after suffering through UCFW-approved wage and pension give-backs, the workers are being asked to pick up an additional $7,000 a year in health care costs! For many of these workers this cut would be a third of their annual income. Meanwhile these three stores raked in $5 billion in profits last year!

In this period of economic crisis, expanding imperialist wars and racist unemployment a potential strike of over 60,000 workers is an opportunity for our Party to join the class-struggle, mobilize our friends on the job, campus and in our mass organizations to expose the inherent exploitation of capitalism and the bankrupt tactics of the sellout unions and build the revolutionary communist PLP.

Leading up to the march, about 30 members of a local church gathered at a nearby store where they demonstrated and then marched inside, handing out letters of support to the workers. This was after Party members pushed for a resolution  at a national convention of the Universalist Church (see page 5) to support the strike nationally, pledging to hold demonstrations and walk the picket lines. A contingent of PLP members and friends from the church joined the rally and march wearing stickers “Don’t Buy Scab Food,” which was a hit for many workers.

Several angry workers gave speeches at the rally, including one young black woman worker who boldly condemned the bosses’ attacks and called on the unity of ALL workers. However, under union “leadership” these workers can’t win. These hacks even have the gall to put on their website that they have selected grocery stores where they have weekly pickets and informational leafleting with the aim to apparently win over community support. However, on three separate occasions members and friends have gone to these locations to find no picket lines or anyone handing out information.

On the one hand, it shows the lack of seriousness by the union but on the other hand it gives us the opportunity to expose the essence of union leadership as the bosses’ lackeys. With the union missing, we can pass out our literature, mobilize our base and mass organizations and take on more leadership. We have made modest efforts thus far but can do much better. We must improve our distribution of CHALLENGE and connect the struggles from workers fighting back here to workers fighting back all over the world. This will contribute to the growth of the PLP and the eventual victory of the working class

COLLEGE PARK, MD July 15 — University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) workers and students are fighting serious abuses against campus workers in facilities, grounds and housekeeping services. Workers describe working there as being on a plantation.

Managers harass and demean workers, using racist and ethnic slurs against black, white and Latino workers. They sexually harass and assault many of the Latina housekeepers. The managers treat workers unequally, increase their workloads, pass them over for promotions, deny them professional development opportunities and write them up when they are sick. When workers file complaints, they get extra work or are moved to a different zone.

The Black Faculty and Student Association (BFSA) along with AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) 1072 compiled workers’  experiences into a 56-page report and met with the university president in May.  More than that, BFSA organized workers, students, alumni and community residents to rally. After two months, the president’s office only responded: “Thank you for your concern.  We are looking into it.” But the workers refused to give up.

On July 15th workers, students, and community residents attended the 4th forum to testify, offer support and organize. The power and energy were clear. Latino, black and white workers all spoke in solidarity with one another:

“You — my black, white and Latino brothers and sisters — are my family. The administration makes you invisible, but you keep this place running.

“We look out for one another. Don’t go to management.”

A PL’er emphasized that “fighting racism is the most important thing you can do to stay strong,” and reminded everyone that in the ‘60s, students and workers were able to shut down that very campus.

The evening’s translator made sure everything was clear in both English and Spanish. Male workers and students again and again expressed their outrage about the sexual abuse of their female co-workers. Three workers from American University also attended, saying that they also are experiencing much of the same on their campus. 

Several speakers talked about this struggle in the context of broader anti-racist and anti-sexist fights, and some people attacked capitalism as the root cause. Everyone understood that the university is a business, driven by profits. It wants to make as much money as possible off its facilities workers who keep the buildings running, its students who have to pay rising tuition and its faculty and graduate students who bring the research grants and do the classroom labor.

Those known to have spoken out have experienced retaliation: receiving more work, being moved and having co-workers told not to speak to them. But they are not backing down, and they have strong support from a coalition of other campus employees, students and the community. The students are very serious and engaged. A student leader of a women’s organization spoke about actions they have already taken, including leafleting in one administrator’s neighborhood and letting people know their neighbor is covering up for racist and sexist managers.

Future Plans

Campus workers continue to speak out and organize in spite of retaliation. Following their leadership, students and alumni are organizing further actions, including leafleting at Obama’s Town Hall meeting on campus, information pickets outside the University and a rally at the first football home game of the year. In a show of solidarity, students will walk the halls at 5 am when housekeepers are most vulnerable, to show support and to observe any abuses. 

The unity among campus workers and the strong support from students is vital in this struggle. Regardless of the University’s response, it will not eliminate the power of the University managers, President Loh, and the Board to exploit and control workers. We must unite, neither on the basis of race nor sex, but under one working class, one party.For that, Progressive Labor Party invites readers to engage in discussions about the need for communism to build a society free of racism and the oppression of women workers.J

Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you’d like to discuss these ideas and get involved.

Read and see more about this struggle at http://UMDCampusJustice.wordpress.com 

BROOKLYN, NY July 18 — “Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!” That’s how a rally of two hundred Brookdale Hospital workers ended after a night of picketing, marching and chanting in front of their hospital. Almost every worker carried a copy of CHALLENGE with the story of their struggle on the front page. Militant workers from Downstate, Methodist, Woodhull, Long Island College and other hospitals and unions came out in solidarity, greeting their Brookdale sisters and brothers with warm hugs, handshakes, and plenty of conversation.

One worker said, “The entire hospital would walk out and strike if the union said so, but they keep telling us to wait…” These racist cutbacks are taking place in every city, designed to make workers and patients pay for the trillion-dollar imperialist wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya, and for the bailouts of the bosses and bankers.

Just before the rally, a vice-president from Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) played emcee to a collection of city and state politicians in a town hall meeting. Their aim was to numb the workers into staging a silent “candlelight vigil,” unsurprising, considering that SEIU’s idea of “struggle” is a bus trip to beg Governor Cuomo and other politicians at the state capitol.

These politicians are part of the same city and state government that orchestrated the closures of eight city hospitals in the past five years. They said the same “fighting” words before shutting down St. Vincent’s and North General hospitals. Parts of Brookdale, a 3,500-worker hospital, have already shut down, robbing the mostly black, Latino, Caribbean and women workers and patients of their jobs and health care.

Speaking to a crowd of workers at the town hall, most with CHALLENGEs in their hands, New York City councilman Charles Barron pandered to their anger, but offered no leadership for the class struggle they need. Barron’s divisive black nationalist politics reinforce racist divisions between black and white workers. Workers don’t need division — they need class unity! Barron’s and 1199’s attempts to control the workers failed when the 1199 VP tried to prevent a white worker from another hospital to speak in solidarity with the Brookdale workers, prompting angry shouts from the crowd and chants of “Let him speak!” The VP backed down.

Brookdale is being bled to death by racist Medicaid and Medicare cuts on the one hand and a pack of thieving bosses from MediSys, the hospital’s parent company, on the other. MediSys Chief Financial Officer Doss steals $3 million-a-year in salary, and top MediSys executives (including CEO Flanz and Human Resources Director Sclair) also draw salaries from 22 dummy corporations that bill Brookdale for their “services.” Doss runs a collections agency that bills Brookdale for collecting unpaid medical debts! He draws another salary from Brookdale as a “consultant”!

At the same time, “Brookdale has no toilet paper,” one worker said. “We have to borrow it from other hospitals. Nurses are telling families to bring their own [adult] diapers. We’re borrowing medicine from Jamaica Hospital [a smaller hospital also owned by MediSys] and I’m always on the phone trying to borrow extra envelopes and paper to get my job done.”

Another woman related the racist and sexist abuse, where 80% of the workers are women. “The managers sexually harass the women...making open sexual advances. They suspend anyone who complains. They don’t fear anybody. They think they’re invincible. Recently, fifteen of us women went to one of their offices and put a stop to it. We haven’t heard from him again!” The women leading the struggle have shown incredible bravery and strength, continuing the fight against the bosses even while 1199 tries its best to cool the workers down.

We heard similar stories of fight-backs and job actions from every department, including a three-day sit-in at the hospital last month, after MediSys stopped paying into the 1199 SEIU National Benefits Fund. This “forced” the union to cancel the workers’ health insurance and replace it with a much worse plan with sky-high, unaffordable co-pays. Aside from stripping the workers of their health care, no one knows what steps, if any, the union has taken against the bosses to recoup their losses.

Either way, the union is worth over a billion dollars. It could have paid for the workers’ health insurance while fighting to get its money from MediSys. Instead, it meekly accepted the hospital bosses’ benefit cut. Had George Gresham and the union leadership really wanted to support the struggle, they had every “legal” reason to strike back in January, when MediSys first violated the labor contract. As one worker said, “The bosses treat us like garbage and the union leaders always give us reasons why we can’t fight, but we know we gotta fight!”

Beyond MediSys, we are confronting the whole racist profit system and a U.S. ruling class that is struggling to keep its world empire amid stiffening competition. Today they fight Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, but down the road looms China. With the help of the union misleaders, they are taking back everything that U.S. workers have gained in the past 80 years in order to meet their growing competition.

PLP is fighting for a base among the workers in order to challenge the bosses and union misleaders. The Brookdale workers are fighting on behalf of every worker affected by racist hospital closures. Every worker worldwide can support the Brookdale Hospital workers by raising their fight on the job and in their union, sending messages of support to CHALLENGE. Workers in the New York City area can sign up to sell CHALLENGEs at Brookdale.

While the bosses ultimately control whether or not Brookdale closes, through building CHALLENGE networks within Brookdale, we are injecting our ideas of fighting back with multi-racial working-class unity. Should Brookdale close, in whole or in part, these workers will bring these ideas with them into the looming struggles ahead, wherever they go. Our long-term success will be measured in how many workers understand that only when millions of workers join PLP and the fight for communism, can the international working class destroy capitalism and seize power.

The politicians and union misleaders had their say at the town hall meeting, but the mostly-female Brookdale workers will have their say when they strike against the bosses. We ask every one of these fighters to join us