Vol. 2 #7
VOICE OF THE MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY, USA 50¢
August 25, 1986
[Front page: Building ties with the workers and peasants of Nicaragua--FROM THE SOLIDARITY TOUR]
| Other articles on the solidarity tour: |
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| The Marxist-Leninist Party of Nicaragua on the Solidarity Tour.................................................................. | 20 |
| Statement of the U.S. Workers' Delegation...................... | 20 |
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| ALSO IN THIS ISSUE |
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| Struggle of the NYNEX Telephone Workers................ | 2 |
| UAW Bureaucrats Move Towards Company Unionism at Jefferson Auto Assembly Plant................ | 4 |
| Revisionist CPUSA's "Only Hope?" -the Sellout Trade Union Bureaucrats........................... | 5 |
| Correspondence from Behind the Walls: |
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| Down with Persecution of Prisoner Activist!............... | 7 |
| The Aims of the Prisoner Organization "PURE"........ | 9 |
| From a New York Prisoner............................................. | 9 |
| From the Communist Party of Iran: |
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| How to Contact the CP of Iran...................................... | 10 |
| The Women's Struggle and the Revolution.................. | 11 |
| The Iranian Left and the Women's Struggle................ | 13 |
| On Agitational and Organizational WorkInside Iran....................................................................... | 14 |
| Corrections...................................................................... | 18 |
Building ties with the workers and peasants of Nicaragua
The Struggle at the Jefferson Auto Assembly Plant in Detroit
The UAW bureaucrats go further down the road of company-unionism
AND THE REVISIONIST CPUSA TELLS THE WORKERS THEIR "ONLY HOPE" IS BACKING THE HACKS TO THE HILT
Correspondence from behind the walls
DOWN WITH THE PERSECUTION OF PRISONER ACTIVIST
THE AIMS OF PRISONERS' UNITED FOR REVOLUTIONARY EDUCATION
HOW TO CONTACT "BOLSHEVIK MESSAGE"
THE IRANIAN LEFT AND THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS
THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF IRAN ON THE STATE OF AGITATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL WORK INSIDE IRAN
THE MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY OF NICARAGUA ON THE SOLIDARITY TOUR
STATEMENT OF THE U.S. WORKERS' DELEGATION
Since they got back from the July solidarity tour of Nicaragua, the comrades who went have been besieged with questions. Meetings are being held to spread the story of what they saw in Nicaragua. Below is one of speeches from a meeting held in Detroit on August17 where two comrades reported on the trip. It has been edited for publication. (More information on the tour can be found in the August 1 issue of the Workers' Advocate and the soon-to-be published September issue.)
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On our recent tour of Nicaragua we were able to observe first-hand the political situation there. It is obviously a country that has recently been through a revolution. There are bullet holes in the buildings; slogans against the contra-yankee invaders cover the walls; and there is great excitement and pride among the sections of people who bear weapons, particularly the people living near the military fronts.
A Revolutionary Atmosphere
After seven years the mark of the victory over the U.S.-backed dictatorship is still on the people in terms of their high revolutionary spirit and political interest. They are full of stories about their personal involvement in the struggle and about their friends and relatives who died fighting.
The typical person on the street will tell you that the masses themselves made the revolution in Nicaragua, that it has brought improvements to their own lives, and that they will not let Reagan or anyone else take their gains away. Many will also tell you that the peoples' desire is to build socialism.
The Revolution Is Not Complete
At the same time, the revolution is not yet complete. The big factory owners and landlords did not lie down and play dead in 1979; they are still harshly exploiting the people, seeking their accustomed profits and demanding more political power. They are in league with the contra and CIA invaders, providing them with money, weapons, and training. Until recently, they have had their reactionary newspaper, La Prensa, which openly supported Reagan's $100 million in aid to the contras and so has temporarily been suspended. And the Catholic Church hierarchy is still organizing plots against the revolution.
The Sandinista Government Balances Between Irreconcilable Opposites
To add to the problem posed by the activity of the rich in Nicaragua is the Sandinista government's attitude towards the rich. The Sandinista government which came to power in 1979 is following a policy of balancing between the revolution and the counterrevolution. The Sandinistas are not at the moment handing power back to the big capitalists and landlords, who lived in paradise in the days of the late dictator Somoza. However, they refuse to take decisive measures to repress these reactionary forces and to benefit the working people. Instead, the government is making an attempt to appease the Nicaraguan rich, as well as their allies, the U.S. invaders. Appeasing the rich is done at the expense of the working masses.
The Sandinistas are making dangerous concessions to Reagan and offering generous incentives and profit guarantees to the local entrepreneurs to try to pacify them. Meanwhile they are making the working people pay the entire cost of the economic crisis and the war against Reagan. The government is saddling them with wage freezes, social cuts, anti-strike measures at the same time as it is demanding higher productivity; and it is demobilizing the workers and poor peasants, saddling, them with bureaucracy and repressing their class initiatives.
This policy of the Nicaraguan government is hurting the workers and peasants, the forces who made the revolution. It is putting their hard-won gains in danger and eroding their interest and stake in the revolution.
But at the same time the Sandinista government is still quite popular. It came to power in the revolution, and it is fighting the contras; it identifies itself with the gains of the revolution, and it uses a lot of revolutionary rhetoric, even talking about placing controls on the capitalists, putting their wealth at the disposal of the workers, and eventually leading the masses to socialism. At times the.government is also driven by circumstances to take certain measures against the capitalists. For instance, last month the government shut down the capitalists' right-wing newspaper, La Prensa, when it came out in support of Congress' vote for the $100 million in aid to the contras. The Sandinistas had no choice but to silence the newspaper in the face of such an outright attack on Nicaragua. This closing of La Prensa was very; popular among the masses, although they of course wanted to go further and demanded it be confiscated. However, the closing is only a temporary measure. Already, in its negotiations with Reagan, the government is offering to reopen the paper.
Revolution At the Crossroads
Thus this is the situation in Nicaragua. There is counterrevolutionary activity by the rich and the contras. There is the weak-kneed, vacillating stand of the government. And there is still the revolutionary enthusiasm of the masses.
So the Nicaraguan revolution is suspended in midair. It is not decided which way it will go. Whether it will go backwards and be smashed, and return to domination by U.S. imperialism and the rich tyrants, or whether it will go forward towards socialism and bring the toilers to power, depends on the ability of the working masses to get organized to push their demands.
The Marxist-Leninist Party of Nicaragua (MAP-ML)
A key political force on the scene in this situation is our fraternal party, the Marxist-Leninist Party of. Nicaragua, which is also known by its original name, MAP-ML. The MLPN is widely recognized and respected by the masses as a force in the revolution. It is working hard to mobilize the Nicaraguan workers and peasants to fight for their own independent interests, against the Nicaraguan exploiters and against the petty-bourgeois, reformist program of the Sandinistas, which is too soft on the exploiters.
The workers and peasants are the ones who made the revolution in Nicaragua. They are the ones with the ability and the will to resist U.S. aggression and throw off the yoke of the exploiters. They alone can defend and advance this revolution and they must be organized to do so. In a minute the comrade [referring to the comrade who delivered the other speech, at the meeting, which is not printed in this issue of the Supplement] will go into how MLPN organizes in Nicaragua. First I would like to introduce what our tour was about.
A Working Tour
To get a picture of the tour you have to know it was not a sight-seeing trip or a vacation, but instead a working political tour. It was planned by our two parties to strengthen our ties and contribute to the organization of both the U.S. and Nicaraguan working class for Marxism-Leninism.
We were received by the MLPN comrades and stayed in their homes, where we had the opportunity for friendly discussions on the U.S., Nicaraguan, and Central American revolutions and the international communist movement. During the day we went around the country, accompanied by some Nicaraguan comrades, to engage in political activities. We travelled in a bus strung with our slogans in support of MLPN and the Nicaraguan working class, and identifying ourselves as Marxist-Leninist workers from the U.S.
We mainly visited a series of workplaces, where MLPN and its trade union center PO (Frente Obrero) are organizing, to meet and talk with the workers. We went to a liquor factory associated with a big sugar complex, a metal fabricating plant, a pig farm, and a peasant cooperative where a land seizure is underway. The comrade will explain what we learned in these warm and fruitful discussions.
We also participated with our banners in various mass actions of the Nicaraguan people, including a march in the city of Leon commemorating students who were killed in the struggle against Somoza, and a Managua street celebration to welcome the soldiers being demobilized from the northern front against the contras. We also held our own demonstration against U.S. aggression in front of the U.S. embassy in Managua.
Other activities included a trip to a military checkpoint in Boaco where we discussed the military situation with a Sandinista official and a morning at the National Assembly where the MLPN has two representatives. As well we had countless political discussions in the streets, marketplaces, at the beach and in the park. Everywhere we went people gathered around to find out. our views on Nicaragua, our views on the contra aid, etc., and to give us their analysis of the situation.
Just an additional note is that our tour took place at the same time as an anti-imperialist anti-fascist youth camp hosted by MLPN. For various political reasons, and despite MLPN's stand in our favor, we were not able to participate fully in this camp, but we did join in a few of its public activities. That is a brief picture of the tour.
What the Tour Accomplished:
I also have two points on what the tour accomplished.
Against U.S. Imperialist Aggression
The first point is it was an act of solidarity of the U.S. working class with the Nicaraguan working class in the face of the U.S. aggression against their country. Nicaragua is under attack by our "own" government in a dirty war to overturn the revolution and reimpose a bloody dictatorship to guard the profits of the U.S. corporations there. Our tour was a sign that the American workers do not support Reagan's war, but oppose it as an unjust war for the rich, just as we opposed the Vietnam war. We stand for the right to self-determination of the Nicaraguan people, their right to organize their future free from the interference of U.S. imperialism. We stand for the victory of the Nicaraguan revolution, for the victory of our Central American fellow workers over our aggressive government and over the local Central American reaction.
Because of this stand of solidarity, because we were American workers against Reagan, we were received extremely warmly. The people showed a true internationalist spirit towards workers coming from the Yankee imperialist heartland. They saw us as their brothers and understood we have nothing to do with our government's criminal war. The people were quick to congratulate us, to welcome us, to engage us in long discussions. Even people walking along the roadside would give the raised fist salute to our bus.
For example, one night we had the opportunity to join the people of Managua in welcoming home the soldiers who were being demobilized from the northern front against the contras. The spirit of the soldiers ran high as they marched in their fatigues to drumbeats and firecrackers, greeting their families, friends and neighbors who lined the streets. When we joined the parade with our banner and mingled with the fighters, they embraced us and said, "How wonderful our American brothers against Reagan are here to support us!" They said they will never be defeated, that they will smash Reagan and the contras, and Nicaragua will be free. Some of the soldiers marched arm in arm with our comrades for miles, enthusiastically declaring their determination to defend the gains of the revolution, and wishing us luck in the struggle against Reagan at home. These were the fraternal dealings our delegation had with the workers of Nicaragua.
Proletarian Solidarity
The other very important accomplishment of the tour, and its main accomplishment, was to demonstrate our particular solidarity with the class- conscious workers of Nicaragua and their vanguard, the Marxist-Leninist Party of Nicaragua. We were invited by MLPN as a fraternal delegation organized by the MLP,USA. The presence of our delegation in Nicaragua helped show that Marxism-Leninism is a worldwide revolutionary trend. We uphold the same stand as the Nicaraguan Marxist-Leninists on the Nicaraguan revolution, the fight against U.S. imperialism and other questions. The tour was another sign that MLPN's principled stand and actions in the Nicaraguan revolution have won it the support of the revolutionary workers of the world.
Our visit was the first time that an organized contingent of U.S. communists had set foot in Nicaragua, and our presence was made widely known. Not only did our bus trips create publicity, but through the efforts of MLPN we were able to give several radio and newspaper interviews. We appeared on the national TV news marching in the Leon demonstration. We gave two television interviews, one. with a Sandinista reporter and another with one of MLPN's National Assembly delegates. In both we were clearly identified as the Marxist-Leninist Party of the USA.
Introducing the Revolutionary Element into the Solidarity Movement
This media coverage of American revolutionaries is unprecedented in Nicaragua. The effect was to change the face of the U.S. solidarity movement in Nicaragua (solidarity by visiting U.S. citizens). There are thousands of foreigners in Nicaragua, including hundreds of Americans, but their public political stripe has always been pacifist and social-democratic. This was shown while we were there by their response to the contras' massacre of the international brigade workers. The solidarity movement used the occasion to hold silent vigils. Up till last month this was the norm in the solidarity movement. Pacifism is the type of politics that the Sandinistas encourage from the solidarity movement, and in fact they try to enforce on it.
Our delegation however, introduced the revolutionary element into the solidarity movement, which caused a small stir. For example, Thursday is the traditional day when Americans in Managua protest in front of the U.S. embassy. On Thursday, July 31, we went to the embassy along with a contingent from MLPN and held a militant protest against U.S. imperialism. We loudly denounced Reagan, the Democratic Party, the CIA and the fake peace plan of Contadora, and we called for victory to the Nicaraguan revolution. We carried the Party's flag, a big banner reading "U.S. imperialism, hands off Nicaragua!", and a giant posterboard caricature of Reagan holding his two weapons against Nicaragua, Contadora and the contras. The action ended by setting fire to the caricature of Reagan and burning him to the ground to shouts of "Down with imperialist Reagan!"
The pacifist crowd at the embassy, which included American reformists, and would-be Marxists hiding among the church groups were horrified by our action. They objected to our hammers and sickles, warned us against burning any American flags, and begged us to please stop shouting and observe a moment of silence. In this way the two trends in the solidarity movement, pacifist and revolutionary, stood face to face at the embassy in sharp contrast to each other. As we left the site some militant activists from the U.S. and Canada came forward from the crowd to show their enthusiasm for our action and exchange addresses for future contact with both the MLP, USA and the MLP of Nicaragua.
Sandinistas Prefer Pacifism
The Sandinistas showed their preference for the pacifist trend in the solidarity movement in two ways. First, in the newspaper coverage of our action by "Nuevo Diario", our action was gone into and a nice photograph printed of our Reagan poster, but there was no mention whatsoever of our name or our trend. The whole action was attributed to the usual pacifists who demonstrate there every Thursday.
Secondly, the Sandinista police arrested a MLPN comrade as he was leaving the action and held him for several hours to show their displeasure at the activity of the revolutionary Marxist-Leninist trend. The presence of the. delegation of U.S. communists showed that not only does the Nicaraguan bourgeoisie have its support--from the capitalist governments of the world; and not only do the Sandinistas have their international support--from the pacifists, social-democrats, and revisionists; but the Nicaraguan Marxist-Leninists also have their own support-- from the class-conscious revolutionary forces.
Views of a Rank-and-File Class-Conscious Worker
Through its courageous stand MLPN has been steadily gaining influence over the last few years. One rank-and-file FO [Frente Obrero, or Workers' Front -- the trade union front associated with MLPN] worker described to me how the revolutionary consciousness of the workers has evolved during this period.
For example, a few years ago MLPN's organizing among the sugar workers resulted in FO winning the trade union elections at a certain mill. This brought on a clash with the Sandinista union officials who voided the election and attacked FO comrades with sticks.
At this point the workers did not take sides, but simply looked on. By observing FO's solid stand against the management, the workers became interested in taking part in the struggle. However they were intimidated by the heavy government repression against FO and the slanders that it was sabotaging the revolution, unpatriotic, etc.
Then, with the worsening of the economic crisis, the workers were pushed to the wall and felt they had no alternative but to fight alongside FO and its committees of struggle (clandestine to avoid firings).
This militant worker describes that today, in general, the workers and peasants more readily accept MLPN's analysis of the situation and its fighting stand; they support its campaigns. MLPN and FO have close relations with large numbers of workers in the important industries. However, organizational work is still slow. Workers are still hesitant to come forward as revolutionary activists.
This worker comrade thought this had to do mainly with two things. One is that the workers are not yet familiar with the habits of communist work- study sessions, meetings, systematic political work, etc. Second, although the workers agree with MLPN's politics of struggle against the bourgeoisie, which requires breaking through the Sandinista bureaucracy, they still feel the heavy ideological pressure from Sandinism which says that for the workers to press any of their class demands during the time of the CIA war goes against the revolution or plays into Reagan's hands. So despite the contrast between the privations and sacrifices of the working people and the incentives offered the capitalists, despite the contrast between the stifling of the initiative of the masses and the subsidizing of the activity of the exploiters, the workers are not rising in a new upsurge to push the revolution further. It's because they aren't yet firm on the class forces responsible for the difficult situation. That is roughly how the situation appears to this rank-and-file FO worker. But FO and MLPN are ready for the moment, not far off, when the revolutionary initiative of the masses will surge forward again.
There Is More To Do!
To conclude. The recent tour showed the tremendous potential for the further development of relations between our two parties. What we learned about the Nicaraguan revolution will serve to strengthen our party's work to organize the U.S. proletariat against our "own" government and its aggression. The MLPN comrades in turn were able to begin to satisfy their enormous curiosity on how Marxist-Leninist work is carried out in the U.S. and were able to see for themselves that the American communists support all aspects of their work in Nicaragua.
Fruits of the Workers' Press Campaign
The success of the tour came out of the steady development of relations between the two parties. At the MLPN office we saw the fruits of our workers' press campaign through which, for several years, American workers have been sending material support to MLPN to facilitate the production of its newspaper, Prensa Proletaria, and other publications. We saw their press and dark room and all varieties of leaflets, bulletins and publications which they produce. Our delegation continued this campaign by delivering a new ink roller which their press needed.
All in all the tour showed the importance-of continuing and further building up the relations between our two parties and between the working class of the two countries. <>
The New York Metro Branch of the MLP has been vigorously supporting the telephone workers' struggle. The Workers' Advocate of August 1 reported on the excitement with which the MLP leaflet of July 20 was received. Since then additional leaflets have been issued. For example, on August 10 a leaflet was issued at the very start of the strike at NYNEX. It set forward the issues in the strike, encouraged the initiative the workers were taking with the formation of strike committees, and it also combatted the capitalist propaganda that the workers have no power, stating that:
"NYNEX [the regional phone company] and the media have done a lot of propaganda that a strike can't hurt them because of all the automation. AT&T said the same thing but facts have exposed this big lie. AT&T reported profits of $422 million for the last quarter. This works out to 22 days of profit lost on a 26 day strike. 22 out of 26 -- and this without mass pickets to stop AT&T from bringing in temporary workers and to stop contracting out like crazy."
Below we print another leaflet, from August 18, which deals with the course of the strike at NYNEX. Since then the strike has ended, but we don't yet have the details of the settlement.
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The telephone strike has entered its second week and is still going strong. 37,000 NYNEX workers are standing firm against the vicious concessions drive of the telephone billionaires. Also on strike are 1500 workers at US West Direct, a subsidiary of US West. On Aug. 14, 12,600 workers of Michigan Bell went out and 12,000 in Philadelphia are threatening to walk. In New York several large rallies have been held in Brooklyn. Thursday, a mass rally was held at NY Telephone Co. headquarters on 42nd street. Thousands of workers packed the entire block chanting "2% won't pay the rent", "Scabs will pay", and "No givebacks". Mass pickets have been set up throughout the city and workers have jeered the scabs going in and chased the ones coming out.
At several buildings, alternate entrances were set up for AT&T workers and Northern Telecom workers. The company tried to ban picket lines at these entrances but in southern Manhattan workers refused to move. Even when threatened with arrest some of the workers stood up to the police and forced them to back down. This was a courageous stand of the workers to defend their solidarity with other workers and to defend their strike.
The telephone capitalists are using a strategy of divide and conquer to weaken the struggle. An example is the AT&T sellout where AT&T workers were left to fend for themselves--without the solidarity of the regional workers. (It was the CWA [Communications Workers of America] bureaucrats themselves who proposed splitting off the AT&T contract.) Now the regional workers have been left on their own to be picked off one by one without the power of a national strike. The union leaders' failure to defend the workers' unity was nothing but out-and-out betrayal.
As a result of this betrayal many of the regional tentative agreements which have been reached across the country have been chock full of concessions. The NYNEX agreement with JBEW and TEO contains an insulting wage increase of 2 1/2%--1%--1% with the COLA capped at 5%! If inflation goes up at all this COLA means cuts in the workers' real wages and buying power. NYNEX is attacking COLA now because they anticipate a rise in inflation.
The "job security" "improvements" of this contract are only new variations of the old SIPP, VIP and RPP. The theme is still the same--"surplus" employees can either quit, get downgraded or get laid-off. And this contract introduces givebacks in medical benefits through employee-paid premiums, (Flex Plus).
The Pacific Telesis agreement wipes out COLA altogether. Wages are a paltry 2%--2%--2%. The much touted "no-layoff" clause in the contract covers up real concessions in downgrading. Instead of getting laid off, workers may replace contract workers. Not getting laid off means you can stay in the company... and clean telephone booths or toilets for a lot less pay. Lump sum cash bonuses--in lieu of wage increases--are another concession. They may seem big at first glance but they will not be rolled into the base wage rate and will not figure into future wage increases. OT pay, differentials, etc.
[CWA President] Bahr and Co. are hailing this contract as a "precedent setting model" for the other regionals. But this "model" is a sellout, full of concessions. It is a model the NY telephone workers do not need. NYNEX workers must beware of any attempt by the CWA leaders to foist a similar sell-out on them. From the second day of the strike these misleaders have engaged in efforts to weaken and sabotage the strike. Along with NYNEX they announced that all major issues were resolved. Last Tuesday many workers believed the strike was winding down and stayed off the picket lines and weakened the strike. Now, one week later with the strike still going strong, the CWA bureaucrats are still saying the same thing, implying that the strike is all over. Not only have workers been misled and demobilized but there has been a blackout by the union leadership on all facts and details. If there is already so much resolved and settled with NYNEX, why aren't we being kept informed? Obviously the CWA is afraid to announce too soon the extent of the givebacks they have granted. They are afraid the workers will get mobilized to oppose any sell-out.
It is up to the workers to make the strike worthwhile. Let the company and the union know -- we will not accept any concessions. The union and the company should know that workers are widely aware of the July 22nd meeting which resolved that the contract must be voted on before we return to work! We will not accept a sell-out contract! The strike will go on until every one of these concessions is struck down.
In the meantime workers must rely on their own efforts to buildup and strengthen the strike. Mass picketing must be kept up at all telephone buildings. More rallies and demonstrations should be called. The concessions and givebacks in other contracts should be studied and discussed and preparations for fighting them in any NYNEX contract should be made. Get prepared to vote down any sellout. Keep up the militant fight against the company's concessions drive! Fight the company's attacks on the workers' solidarity! Defend our strike! We will win! <>
The following article comes from the August 7th issue of Detroit Workers' Voice, a newspaper of the Detroit Branch of the Marxist-Leninist, Party. Since it was issued, the UAW bureaucrats have succeeded in railroading the contract. This sets the stage for further struggles at the Jefferson plant as the gap between the militant workers and the union bureaucrats grows still wider.
Make Chrysler Pay for a New Plant!
Vote No on August 10th!
Jefferson workers are to vote Sunday, August 10th, on a new local contract. This is a rotten concessions deal. It eliminates jobs, guts protective work rules, cuts job classifications, and turns the local UAW into a virtual company union. It can't be tolerated. Vote No! Denounce the UAW sellouts! Use the union meeting to help get prepared for a struggle to make Chrysler, not the workers, pay for a new plant!
This contract eliminates 88 job classifications.
We say: No cuts In job classifications!
The proposed contract cuts job classifications down to only 10 from the present 98. There will be only 3 production classifications left (presumably indentured servant, slave, and bootlick.) There will be only 7 skilled classifications left and even these will be forced to work across classifications. This means overwork and the elimination of more jobs. Last year we waged a national contact strike to block, among other things, such wholesale elimination of job classifications. We can't allow this to be slipped through on the local level.
This contract means big layoffs. We say:
Guarantee the Workers' Jobs and Bring Back the Laidoff!
While the job combination means eliminating many jobs, the cutting back of overall production could mean even more layoffs. Chrysler is talking about shifting the Dodge Ram line from Dodge Truck to Jefferson. The loss of the line at Dodge Truck and the production of only the large pickup line at Jefferson probably means more layoffs at both plants.
We must win protection against any further job cuts and help our fellow workers who have been thrown into the unemployment lines. The contract should stipulate that Chrysler guarantee the jobs of those still working and that it provide jobs or a livelihood for all those who've already been laid off.
The employed will get a few pennies for helping combine jobs. We say:
No to "Pay for Knowledge" and Other Job Elimination Schemes!
And what do the workers get back for all the layoffs and overwork resulting from the job combinations. Just pennies. The lowest production category may get an additional 31 cents an hour. And any further raise (a maximum of 38 cents an hour) is tied to the worker learning more jobs and, thereby, helping to eliminate more workers' jobs.
This contact is to last 7 years. We say:
No to Seven years of Overwork and Job Elimination!
And if all of this were not bad enough, this rotten contract is scheduled to last for 7 years, beginning some time after the current model year is finished (probably in the spring 1988).
This contract takes the UAW further down the road of company-unionism. We say:
Organize to Defend the Workers!
While cutting the number of Chrysler bosses, the contract will also cut the number of UAW committeemen and shop stewards. It will also institute a "team system" to integrate UAW hacks into management and to make them into the bosses over the crews of rank-and-file workers. The contract stipulates that the UAW and Chrysler are to "embark upon a whole new, non-adversarial working relationship..." (Detroit Free Press, August 5, 1986) In other words, the UAW bureaucracy is giving up even the pretense of defending the workers from the attacks of Chrysler and, instead, is officially joining with Chrysler to administer the concessions at the plant against the workers.
Let Chrysler, Not the Workers, Pay for a New Plant!
If Chrysler wants to build a new plant it certainly has the money to do it without demanding more concessions from the workers. Chrysler has plenty of money to buy up E.F. Hutton and Gulf Stream Aerospace. It has plenty of money to pay Iacocca and other top executives millions of dollars in bonuses. It has made billions upon billions upon billions of dollars in record profits over the last three years. It can easily afford to rebuild Jefferson Assembly on its own.
But the workers have been suffering from concessions and layoffs for years. Enough is enough.
The workers at Chrysler's St. Louis Plant #2 faced the threat that their plant would be closed down. But they went on strike and brought out the workers from Plant #1 to support them. And they won the restoration of a number of job classifications that they had lost when their plant was remodeled. Last month Ford workers in Georgia went on strike against the vicious speed up that resulted from the modernization of their plant. And workers at GM's Pontiac plant are protesting the "team system" instituted there despite GM's threats to close that plant. Now is not a time for concessions, it is a time to fight back.
The Jefferson workers have already shown what we can do in the T. Gurry wildcat, in the work stoppage on the Final Line, in the early wildcat that started and pushed forward the national contract strike. The Jefferson workers can and must fight back too. Through organizing independently of the UAW bureaucrats, by preparing for struggle, we can reject this proposed concessions contract and win our demands.
The union meeting begins at 11 a.m. Sunday at UAW local 212 located as 12101 Mack. Everyone should come out to denounce the UAW leaders who are trying to sell this wretched contract. Vote No on the Local Contract! Make Chrysler Pay for a New Plant! <>
The UAW bureaucrats are going further and further down the road of company unionism. Their entire attention is devoted to how to help auto capitalists eliminate jobs and gut work rules; their only quibble is that the company should be sure to give the union leaders a role in the process of driving the workers to the wall.
A confrontation is taking place at the Jefferson assembly plant in Detroit. The UAW leadership is using local contract agreements and renegotiations to force concessions on the auto workers. The latest treachery took place in early August when they came up with a sweetheart deal with Chrysler.
But they have a problem. The Jefferson workers have been waging various struggles against concessions and against union sellout. Their trust in the union hacks is at a new low. And when the details of the new sellout contract were leaked to the press, this created a new wave of anger among the workers.
CPUSA to the Rescue... of the UAW Hacks
So the revisionists of the "Communist Party of the USA" felt that now was the time to come out and do some work. Despite their use of the "communist" label, in fact the CPUSA has long lost any connection to real communism or to class struggle. It is simply another reformist group of class collaborators. It doesn't seek to develop the fighting strength of the working class, but it seeks alms from the liberal bourgeoisie or from the bourgeoisie's friends, such as the labor bureaucrats.
So when the UAW bureaucrats pushed further along the road of company bureaucrats, the revisionist CPUSA felt it was time for action. Not to fight the company unionism, but to help out their friends, the UAW union bureaucrats. The "auto club of the CPUSA" only issues leaflets at Jefferson in its own name on a few special occasion a year. But this was it. Out came a leaflet with a masthead proclaiming it to be the publication "Jefferson Worker".
And what did the leaflet say?
Well, the leaflet had to admit that there might be a few things wrong with the proposed contract. Worker after worker is burning mad at the betrayal in this contract, so the CPUSA, in an attempt to have influence, had to say a few words about the bad features of this sellout. In the form of asking "questions", it wondered whether the contract would hurt seniority, had no guarantees on job security, would help shove out of the factory workers who are "less physically able to perform certain work, usually because of many years of back breaking work building Chryslers", makes a mockery of the grievance procedure, etc. etc.
Why, the leaflet even raised the issue of socialism. But what was its conclusion?
There's "Not Too Much" the Revisionists Can Do -- Except Sellout
It called on the workers to sit on their hands and support the sellout anyway. According to the leaflet:
"Chrysler has a gun to our head right now at Jefferson, as well as at Huntsville, and Trenton -- and there is not too much we can do about it."
So lay down and play dead. Don't blame the UAW leaders, such as the hated Marc Stepp, of the UAW's Chrysler Division, or chief sellout Bieber of the national office. They are just doing what they have to do, doing their duty with a gun to their head, giving in to the objective situation. The leaflet says there is a gun to the workers heads, thus implying "what can anyone do". And it explicitly states: "We know that. Our union leadership knows that."
Perhaps one might try to struggle? Not at all. After all: "We can try our best to get all our jobs guaranteed here, but that is not the company's aim. They want more profits and fewer workers to make more vehicles." What an air of resignation. Imagine trying to do anything the company doesn't want!
The CPUSA's "Only Strength" Is Trailing the Hacks
So what's left to do? Nothing but rally around those same trade union bureaucrats who are ramming the concessions down the workers' throats. The CPUSA concludes that "Our only strength is in our trade union movement,..." So those very UAW leaders who are selling the workers out are the workers' only source of strength!
Note that the CPUSA isn't distinguishing between the workers in the trade union movement and the bureaucrats. It has just praised the "union leaders", and the whole leaflet is designed to prettify the sellout of the UAW bureaucrats.
Support for the trade union bureaucrats. That is the alpha and omega of CPUSA tactics in the economic struggle. Prettify them, lie for them, lick their asses -- that's the CPUSA to a "t". And maybe, after all that, you can save a job or two -- that is, the jobs of the one or two CPUSA hacks in the union bureaucracy.
More CPUSA Hypocrisy
But hey, who says the CPUSA isn't militant? It says "We can build with other unions and communities a nationwide fight for the six-hour day with no cut in pay.... We can launch an aggressive organizing drive to organize auto workers who are forced to work with substandard wages and benefits which only undercut our own jobs, especially in the parts shops...We can build strong ties with all auto workers in every country..."
Why, anything you like, so long as you do it hand in hand with the union bureaucrats (and not just those of the UAW, but of other unions as well, and not just the union hacks, but the Democratic Party officials of various communities as well). Anything you like, in your imagination, as long as in the particular struggle you are currently engaged in, you throw up your hands in despair before whatever "gun" the capitalists (and their collaborators, the union bureaucrats) have to your head.
But despite the setback of the ratification of sellout local contract, the struggle is far from over. On the contrary, the discontent of the workers is rising. They are mad at being pushed to the wall. Insofar as they felt resignation before the current attack at Jefferson, it was mainly the feeling that their vote didn't count because the UAW bureaucrats would announce the contract was ratified no matter what the vote. This is far from regarding the hacks as their "only strength", as the CPUSA recommends.
As the auto workers increasingly go into action, they will push aside the union bureaucrats and their lackeys, such as the revisionists. They will organize independently of the capitalists and the reformist and bureaucratic friends of the capitalists, and they will build up revolutionary organization. They will march on right over the class collaborators and take up class struggle and revolutionary Marxism-Leninism. <>
We have received a. letter dated June 4 from Alvaro Hernandez, who is the chairman of Prisoners' United for Revolutionary Education and editor of its journal Arm the Spirit. He writes:
"...Again, thank you for publicizing our in-prison struggles against the fascists here. Our Outside National Network Coordinator, De' Jenaba Kambui, should have by now mailed you a working copy of Arm the Spirit. The delay we are now experiencing is due to prison regulations which require that "publications" must come from a 'legitimate' publisher, and we have contracted with a publisher to print our newsletter. The first issue is slated for August for two special reasons: (1) to pay special tribute to the martyrs of our in-prison and national liberation struggles who lost their lives in August/Sept.- such as George Jackson, Jonathan Jackson, the Attica Brothers, Johnny 'Awali' Swift, and (2) to coincide with a conference on political prisoners slated for August in Birmingham, Ala, sponsored by friends.
"Yes, you have my express permission to use my name..."
He also included information and documents on political persecution of himself by the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) authorities. To justify its actions, the TDC has been inventing one absurd charge after another. At one time they decide he is a "gang" member. The next moment they drop this charge and declare that they have confidential information that he is planning an escape and to kill anyone in his way. In fact, this is political repression. They themselves list his socialist beliefs as "indicat(ing) he is a threat to institutional security & order". And this persecution didn't start until he became active in the prisoners movement and developed political consciousness.
Below we reprint excerpts from a letter that he provided to us that he wrote to a lawyer for the prisoners in a case against TDC oppression of the prisoners. This letter goes into the persecution and threats by the TDC authorities.
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8 May 1986
[Address.]
Dear Mr. Turner
During an interview here on the unit on April 2, 1986, in connection with my status as prospective witness in the upcoming contempt hearings scheduled for June 23, 1986, in the prison litigation [against the TDC in the case called Ruiz v. McCotter. Ms. Brorby stated that the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC) no longer considered me to be a "gang member" insofar as those reasons had been previously given to justify keeping me assigned to administrative segregation as a "security threat." However, the TDC now has again raised some serious allegations that you need to know about.
Although TDC has now dropped the accusations levelled against me saying that I was a "gang member," they have again raised allegations pertaining to alleged "escape" plans as reasons for continuing me in administrative segregation. If you recall, [earlier in 1983]... I sought your assistance in the matter of my assignment to segregation in challenging TDC's initial reasons given for classifying me as a "security threat." In that report, and in specifying the nature of the risk or threat that I allegedly posed, it was written:
"Inmate Hernandez' record indicates a lengthy history of serious institutional rule infractions. His record also reflects that reliable information has been received indicating that he will attempt escape at any given opportunity and will use any means of force available to facilitate his escape. This information could be substantiated in part by his lengthy history of escape and escape attempts by use of deadly force. This inmate should be considered a threat to the order and security of the institution." (Administrative Segregation Report No. 0470, March 10, 1983, Beto I Unit)
...At that time I immediately sought your assistance and intervention on my behalf and you contacted Mr. Richard E. Gray (then attorney for TDC in Ruiz). By letter dated April 21, 1983, Mr. Gray notified you that TDC would not consider the escape allegations and assured you, in part, that: "...I have been assured that this information will not be used and the classification officials will not consider this information unless some record of how it was received, when it was received, and the credibility of its source can be identified and documented."... It was only after I began a massive letter-writing campaign protesting the use of these false, self-serving, and manufactured allegations that TDC finally decided to "drop" them in that I alleged that it was part and parcel of a conspiracy to frame me and have me murdered.
Subsequent administrative segregation review hearing records are, again, beginning to reflect the same reasons as cited in the past such as: "information indicates inmate will attempt escape if opportunity on any transfer and will kill anyone attempting to stop him;" and "past escape history and current threat." (Administrative Segregation Review Hearing Record, Beto One Unit, Alvaro L. Hernandez, #255735) These renewed allegations come in the context of a period time of immense repression, retaliation, harassment, unlawful punishments, etc., against me by prisoncrats, including but not limited to:
(a) repeated searches of my cell by the notorious Special Operations Response Team (SORT) (neo-nazi terrorists) and the destruction and confiscation of my legal and political materials;
(b) threat to inflict physical harm made by SORT Sergeant Robert Frazier- "we are going to break you, why don't you just give in it will be less painful;"
(c) rumors of alleged murder "contracts" against me by the white supremacist neo-nazi gang, The Aryan Brotherhood --...
(d) arbitrary refusal to allow me outside visit with support people such as Ms. Phyllis Salter;
(e) mysterious transfers, bench warrants, transits, in the middle of the night, etc., and so forth.
You may feel that my claims are the result of "paranoia" or "psychoses." To people who feel that way, I remind them that the government and prison officials are known for their history of concerted and contrived criminal schemes in order to disrupt and destroy liberation movements in this country by singling out leaders and activists for police entrapment, frame-ups and even murder both outside the walls and inside the. walls. Such phobiastic actions on the part of the ruling (class) government and its law enforcement officials is also a "fear" that prison officials have against us prisoner militants in our organized acts at resistance from behind prison walls in the exposure of their prison lawlessness, financial corruption, brutality, institutional racism and slave system, employee thefts, defiance to federal and state laws and court-ordered reforms, and many, many other crimes currently being committed by prison officials with impunity against taxpayers and prisoners in this State. I am not unmindful of former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's fascist counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) designed to "neutralize" (semantic terms used by rulers to mean: kill a variety of political organizations and their leaders such as the Black Panther Party. (BPP)... [this example is elaborated and a series of other examples are given, including the FBI's Operations CHAOS and Western Sweep]...the murder of Johnny "Awali" Swift at the Ellis I Unit on August 2, 1983 by an inmate-mercenary -- Awali's last letter to me stated, in part: "...Beginning with 1983, I am going to reassert myself in a deeper way in organizational work. I have been overly taxed with legal matters, and allowed the political side of my activity to suffer too greatly. Next year will mark a deep alteration in priorities,... Lack of organization has remained the pressing brake on our movement. That is going to change, and all of you more politically aware than 'average' should see this as key to our in-prison activity..." (Johnny Awali Swift letter of Dec. 29, 1982 to Alvaro L. Hernandez) Awali was a former Black Panther Party member and was seeking to establish a BPP Chapter in TDC at the time of his murder. ...
No, Mr. Turner, it is not "paranoia" on my part but a healthy defensive reflex due to my awareness of the criminality of those who run this country and operate its prison systems. I am, as you know, recognized for my political activism and my intense involvement in all major prison litigations against TDC from challenging institutional racism in Lamar v. Coffield, to standing for the 1st Amendment freedoms of all prisoners in Guajardo v. McCotter, to the totality-of-conditions case in Ruiz v. McCotter, and many more legal and political struggles. It is also no secret that I do not disdain to conceal my revolutionary socialist beliefs. On May 17, 1984, the classification committee wrote in my administrative segregation review hearing record that:
"...claims to be a socialist -- claims has theoretical belief in these principles, but no concrete plan to cause any rebellion w/i institution...Inmate's own statement concerning political beliefs indicate he is a threat to institutional security & order & has potential to disrupt population...." (Adm. Seg. Review Hearing Rcrd. May 17, 1984).
Further, I do not take the renewed allegations concerning "escape plans" lightly because they come at an era of the rise of ultra-right wingism, McCarthyism and fascism in this country reflected both internationally and domestically. They come at a time when several of us have announced plans to establish Prisoners United for Revolutionary Education (PURE) its newsletter organ, Arm the Spirit, and our "Just Us" Inmate Assistance Paralegal Association to organize prisoners in our collective fight against general prison barbarism we are daily subjected to.... My only safeguard is to put you, my family, my friends, my brothers, my sisters, my comrades, my supporters, the media, the public, and the world if possible, on notice of what is happening behind prison walls and in my mind in efforts to arrest TDC's plans, if any, before they actually happen. If they do not occur, fine, then nothing is lost only perhaps my time, writing paper and envelopes. But I will not sit back passively because I will never fall victim to the underestimation of the viciousness, barbarism, manipulatory schemes and other general illegal dirty tricks... by prisoncrats... These "professional correctional officers" and other "criminologists" have clearly shown me that they are more "criminal" and "fascistic" than the alleged "criminals" (victims of social and economic injustice -- prisoners) they are supposed to be "rehabilitating" and keeping....
I also remind you that it was not until I became involved in prison reform litigation and attained a revolutionary consciousness that TDG came out with these "escape" charges against me to justify isolating me from the rest of the prison masses, and their persistent repression in all forms. Prior to that I was permitted to work in the agricultural fields, had gone on many bench warrants, stayed in population at the Huntsville Unit for 2 weeks by TDC's mistake, turned over to the Special Master's Office a "handcuff key" given to another prisoner by a prison guard in exchange for a piece, of jewelry, and I have never attempted escape, nor do I now have plans to escape. I further believe that the so-called "reliable" and "credible" information given to prisoncrats about my alleged escape plans comes from inmate guard... in exchange for special privileges and parole consideration by prison authorities.
I wonder what allegations TOC will come up with next. That I have close ties to the Libyan government of Col. M Khaddafy to justify "bombing" me while I am sound asleep in my cell?
Please investigate these matters and demand that the TDC and the Classification Committee prove the reliability and credibility of its "confidential source" and that I be given an opportunity to defend against these absurd accusations in an adversary setting...."
Very truly yours,
Alvaro L. Hernandez
"Ruiz witness"
Chairman, Prisoners' United for Revolutionary Education (PURE)
Editor, Arm the Spirit <>
The following is reprinted from the article "Our Purposes" in Vol. 1, No. 1 of "Arm the Spirit".
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1. To unite all prisoners in the attainment of a revolutionary education for common struggle.
2. To build a prisoners' revolutionary newspaper.
3. To build an outside caring community unit to support the struggles of the prisoners.
4. To bring about social and economic change and promote working class power and resources in the hands of all poor and oppressed peoples.
5. To provide social services for the poor.
6. To end all police and prison brutality.
7. To end all economic exploitation.
8. To provide legal assistance and education to the poor and prisoners.
9. To unite the struggles of the poor and prisoners.
10. To unite workers and prisoners of all colonial and neo-colonial countries.
Prisoners' United for Revolutionary Education (P.U.R.E.)
P.O. Box 1098
Etna, Louisiana 70056 <>
Below are excerpts from a letter we have received from a New York prisoner.
Marcy, New York
April 10, 1986
Revolutionary Greetings Comrade(s)!
Fascism is here! I read the article in the "Workers Advocate" describing some of the oppressive and tyrannical conditions which the comrades in the
Texas prisons (concentration camps) must endure daily, [While] I admit that Texas is more blatant in their repression and persecution of prisoners in general and political prisoners in particular, we must not isolate the Texas prison system from this whole filthy maggot ridden system.
The hypocrisy of Amerikan fascism forces it to conceal its attack on political offenders by the legal fiction of conspiracy laws and highly sophisticated frameups. The masses must be taught to understand the true function of prisons. Why do they exist in such vast numbers? What is the real underlying economic motive of crime and the official definition of types of offenders or "victims"? The obligation of all comrades who have the time and means is to disseminate the reason for the vast number of prisons and their true purpose to the people, so that their eyes may be cleared of all bourgeois lies and distortions..
I tell you from experience that these fascist madmen who run these prisons are capable of doing anything to a prisoner in general and political prisoners in particular. Most prisoners who I have had the pleasure of meeting and speaking to, will readily tell you of the oppressive and coercive measures which the authorities of the prisons use to control and manipulate prisoners' action according to their program. Right here in the state of New York, prisoners are killed everyday and no one questions the administration nor prosecutes the pig guards; at any moment I can be killed and the administration in unison with the district attorney, et. al. will justify it some way and there are no forces which can contest this.
The prison psychiatrist can sign papers having a prisoner sent to a "mind control" unit to have his/her behavior "modified". They are usually prescribed drugs such as prolixin, thorazin, congentin, carbal, et. al. These drugs debilitate the individual taking them and also contribute to the destruction of the central nervous system. When the psychiatrists feel that the prisoner is no longer a "threat" (meaning he has been burned out mentally) they remove him off the medication. More medication must be given the prisoner to combat withdrawal symptoms.
All major prisons have what are called "media review boards". This board is usually composed of the senior librarian, chaplin, sergeant and guard. These misfits are not qualified to judge what is acceptable and what is not. They are a bunch of self-centered, racist and narrow-minded idiots. These people determine what is "proper" reading material and what is not. If a prisoner receives literature which the guards determine as a threat they send it to the media review, the prisoner is never notified about this, so, if the literature is rejected (censored) the guards just send it back to where it came from. The guidelines which the administration uses to determine what is acceptable are so vague as to leave a wide range for censorship of the literature.
This is just a "scratch" on the surface of what most prisoners have to go through in these concentration camps through America. To enumerate all the psychological, physical, emotional, and spiritual oppression and repression which we must confront day in and day out, would take too much room in this small missive, comrade.
All true communists must not fail to deal with the problems facing prisoners in this fascist society. The prison struggle is an integral part of the struggle to dismantle this capitalist shitsem and put it on the trashpile of history.
It is important to be cognizant of the revolutionary struggle abroad but it is imperative that we realize our most urgent and pressing responsibility to seize the time "now" and educate the masses (those who have not sold their soul's to the World Bank, Pepsi Cola and I.B.M.) to our revolutionary duty of destroying this system. Anything less than this is opportunism of the worse kind. … <>
In this issue of the Supplement, we are reprinting a number of materials from Bolshevik Message, the paper of the Communist Party of Iran (The Committee Abroad). To contact the CPI (The Committee Abroad), one may write to either of the following addresses: [Addresses.] It should be noted that the address given last year in the Supplement (in the Jan. 1985 and May 1985 issues) for contacting the foreign office of Komala (the Kurdistan organization of the Communist Party of Iran) is no longer valid. Instead the Representation of Komala Abroad may be reached at the following address: [Address.].
THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF IRAN ON WOMEN'S LIBERATION AND THE REVOLUTION
Here we reprint excerpts from the article "Women of a Revolution: A Look at Women's Struggle and
Oppression in Iran Since March 8, 1979" by Zohreh Kyan, which appeared in the July 1986 issue of Bolshevik Message, paper of the Communist Party of Iran -- The Committee Abroad. Minor grammatical changes, such as the breaking up of paragraphs and addition of subheads, are the responsibility of the Supplement.
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What has been happening to women in Iran, perhaps more than any other factor emerging from the 1979 revolution, has proved a perplexity to many observers of Iranian politics.
That an economy based on the most savage exploitation of the working class, plagued with unprecedented inflation, mass unemployment, the civil war in Kurdistan and a full-fledged war with Iraq, should stretch its resources to the repression of women of such absurd dimensions as segregation in the assembly line, in buses, on sidewalks, and in the bread lines...appears rationally inexplicable. In this, as with many other factors concerning revolutionary periods, we have to look for explanations other than sheer economic ones.
This is not to deny that the Islamic Republic has a lot in common with its other bourgeois counterparts throughout the world in trying to alleviate economic problems at the cost of the cheaper labor, or the increasing unemployment, of women.... But it is one thing to object, for instance, to the inadequacy of amenities for unmarried mothers, and entirely another to come to grips with a situation in which "adulteresses" are being stoned to death or put in sacks and pushed off cliff tops.
The onslaught on women's rights in Iran has not been a mere readjustment of the bourgeoisie to the economics of a period of recession, as it has been in many other parts of the world; it has been coupled with a savage effort to curb and crush a revolution with deep-rooted democratic demands -- a revolution embedded in the economic crisis itself. In Iran the principle of the freedom of the women as the measure for freedom in society as a whole, was turned upside down, as [seen] in the effort by the Islamic Republic to reverse the revolution, [where] stripping women of their most fundamental rights became one more tool to deprive the whole population of their hard gained freedom.
March 8, 1979 -- What Happened During the First Celebration of International Women's Day in Iran
The course of events has been so revealing, the process of the revolution itself has been so educative, that merely by looking back from the vantage point of the present seven years after March 8, 1979, when the first celebration of International Women's Day was suppressed by the newly installed regime, we have the rights and the wrongs of the matter at hand.
Iranian women were never allowed to celebrate the occasion before 1979. The only day in which they were remembered by officialdom was February 10, the day in which the Shah's father had declared an end to the veil -- [done through] a violent and humiliating process through which the women were officially forbidden to wear the veil. This was part of Reza Shah's mandatory reforms which were directed toward liberating labor power and turning Iran into a modern bourgeois state. The Shah's land reform some 30 years later and its social and economic consequences likewise directly affected women's lives. ... Aimed at the profitability which had turned Iran into a haven for capital investment, and coupled with the starkest political oppression, the reforms brought women about as much real equality as they brought the whole population political freedom!
What they did mean was that Iranian women had as much -- if not more -- to gain from the revolution as the rest of the population. They were vocal and active participants in all spheres of the revolutionary struggle, and it is against this background that the events of March 8, 1979 and after should be assessed and analyzed.
"At the dawn of freedom, women's rights are amiss"
As the women were preparing for that day, the rumor went around that working women were advised to wear the veil from the following week. In the midst of the revolutionary fervor of the people who had just had a taste of their own strength in pulling down the Shah's regime, one of the world's most stable and brutal dictatorships, the rumor justified the misgivings that many people had had from the start about the lukewarm pledges of the clerical leadership to democratic rights in general and the rights of women in particular. Celebration turned into a demonstration of protest as tens of thousands of women poured out on the streets of Tehran in the middle of a heavy snowfall chanting "At the dawn of freedom, women's rights are amiss." Hezbollahs (at that time unofficial but fully organized bands of religious fanatics) drove vans into the demonstrators' lines, pushed women into gutters, and used obscenities to drive them away.
The demonstration, the first to be held against the repressive measures of the new government, was a display of the force of the revolution and its democratic demands. The treatment that the demonstrators received was likewise indicative of the methods in which all revolutionary demands and protestations of women, workers, students, nationalities, and religious minorities were to be met from then on. The demonstration was proof of the fact that the demand for the liberation of women, ambiguous and unspecified as it was, was an urgent task of the revolution. The suppression of women was only one aspect of the suppression of the revolution as a whole. What happened, in effect, was the first organized onslaught on the revolution, channeled through the suppression of women's rights.
The Oppression of Women Under the Islamic Regime Today
As the regime consolidated its basis of power, it turned to other means to subjugate women. Its Islamic institution gave it a free hand to introduce reactionary legislation on women in the name of the Islamization of society. The original Islamic attitude to women, dating nearly one and a half thousand years back in history, is not only reactionary but barbaric....
Iranian women today are left with the nightmare of everyday life under the Islamic Republic in which the laws of sexual apartheid are enforced meticulously. The most obvious segregator, of course, is the veil. But there are additional measures taken to keep these mobile cages containing "untouchable semi-humans" away from areas of association and activity of "superior and pure" human beings in factories, schools, offices, means of public transport. The most effective method, of course, is segregation by means of brick or mud walls -- to imprison women in the house. In Islamic Iran all routes to meaningful social, educational, recreational activities for women are blocked by various means and regulations, leaving them no outlet other than to take part in behind-the-scenes prayer sessions and religious ceremonies.
In anticipation of mass protest, at various intervals the regime lets its agents loose on women in the streets under the pretext of the most minute deviation from the never specified standards of Islamic cover -- a streak of hair showing under the scarf, shoes with heels, the crime of wearing lively colors. The punishment depends on the sadistic whim of the persecutors, varying from flogging to being knifed, or dragged by the scarf behind a moving moped....
All this will become politically meaningful if we consider the fact that the tactics of the bourgeoisie in Iran, designed to deal not with a relatively stable political situation as in the Shah's time, but with a full-scale revolution of nationwide dimensions, were meant to operate at two levels; they were expected to achieve two interrelated goals; to force both a political and an economic setback on the revolution -- to drive people out of the streets and return the situation back to "normal," and to force a much lower standard of living on the working class....
Economically "Islamization" proved the easiest method of driving women back into the kitchens to serve as unpaid slaves of capital. Religion helped the Islamic Republic better than most other excuses used by secular governments to make thousands of women' redundant [unemployed]. With the withdrawal of all amenities, the closure of the few nurseries and child care centers which existed, with the reduction of feeding time for nursing mothers, and, recently, with totally segregating previously mixed work places, such as the Melli Shoe and Leatherwork complex, working conditions for women in general and working class women in particular deteriorated drastically. Difficult and humiliating working conditions for those women who still remain within the work force are such that, despite dire financial need, many women have embraced a bill passed by the Islamic Parliament on half-time employment (and pay) for married women -- designed to phase women out of social production.
At the beginning at least, very few "opposition" political forces, including women's organizations which had emerged in the course of the revolution, realized the significance of women's rights as such, or the far reaching political and economic implications of their suppression. This, of course, was an aspect of their confused analysis of the new regime itself. …
The Communist Party of Iran Champions the Cause of Women's Liberation
The course of events in Iran proved once more the Marxist tenet that the proletariat is the only supporter of real democracy and the liberation of women as part of it. [Iranian] revolutionary Marxism started its struggle for women's rights long before the formation of the CPI. In an article called "The Women's Problem is the Workers' Problem" it contested the ideas prevailing among the Marxist opposition that the working class had more important issues to deal with than the situation of women.
We believe that without socialism the condition of women will not change irrevocably. But we believe as adamantly in practicing our ideas, in taking practical steps toward that goal. While at a more general level this involves a struggle to overthrow the class and the political system whose interest is served by the inferior position of women -- the bourgeoisie and its state machine in general and the dark reign of the Islamic Republic in particular -- we believe in paying immediate attention to the condition of women. The minimum part of the program of the CPI expresses women's demands in the articles concerning social, political, and economic independence and equality, down to the specific demands concerning the welfare of working women. …
Women in Revolutionary Kurdistan
But by "practice" we also mean what has been happening in Kurdistan. Here, Komala, the Kurdistan Organization of the CPI, is not only an opposition force, but has developed, over the course of seven years of armed struggle against the Islamic Republic, into a major social, political and military force with vast popular support. It is here that theory has a chance to be tested in practice.
In Kurdistan, a region in which the barbaric custom of women's circumcision still survives, Komala has used its strength and popularity to campaign for the cause of Kurdish women.
Through Komala's efforts, Kurdish women were gradually finding their way into the people's councils in the unoccupied parts of Kurdistan. This was regarded as a prelude to the total involvement of women in wielding their own destiny. The total occupation of Kurdistan, however, has deprived the people of these organs of self-government.
The central propaganda organs of Komala, its radio and publications, along with hundreds of agitators throughout Kurdistan, incessantly point out the intolerable conditions of women, making them familiar with their rights as free, equal, and responsible citizens. It is not surprising, therefore, that as a communist force, Komala enjoys increasing popularity among the Kurdish women. The actual and potential support of Kurdish women in cities and villages, the volume of the letters they write to Komala radio, and their noticeable presence in the ranks of professional revolutionaries, where they are educated, armed, and organized in mixed units to struggle alongside the men, is proof of the fact. Komala is proud to declare that up to 80% of these women have working class origins. … <>
The article below has been put together with additional excerpts from the article "Women of a Revolution: A Look at Women's Struggle and Oppression In Iran Since March 8, 1979" from Bolshevik Message, July 1986, paper of the Communist Party of Iran -- The Committee Abroad.
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At the beginning at least, very few "opposition" political forces, including women's organizations which had emerged in the course of the revolution, realized the significance of women's rights as such, or the far reaching political and economic implications of their suppression. This, of course, was an aspect of their confused analysis of the new regime itself.
The Mujahedeen who, from [at?] the very beginning had no definable differences with the Islamic regime, who still pay lip-service to the equality of men and women under their "Democratic Islamic Republic," and to whom goes the dubious credit for inventing the "Islamic" costume which was adopted by the regime as a substitute for the veil, did not seem perturbed by the contradictions that their stand involved. In proper Islamic fashion, they bypassed the issue.
The petty bourgeois organizations on the left who spoke in the name of Marxism identified any wholehearted defense of women's rights with the "immorality and decadence" of the Shah's regime. Organizations such as Fedayee and Peykar denounced the 8th March [1979] demonstration on such grounds, and by so doing found themselves in words, if not in deeds, rubbing shoulders with the regime itself. They evaded action on such burning issues as the question of the compulsory veil by declaring that such issues were "not the concern of working class women."
Thus, with every new encroachment of the regime on women's rights they contented themselves by issuing a statement of protest in which the solution of the problem was deferred to the dawn of socialism itself! ...
If objective conditions have deteriorated for women over the last seven years, if the condition of women in Iran has turned into the symbol of oppression under the Islamic Republic, subjective conditions have by no means remained the same. The lessons of the Iranian revolution are so fully and broadly learnt in many areas that unlike the beginning of the revolution, to speak of "progressive religion" now has an averse resonance to many ears.
Iranian women are turning into a real threat with which the Islamic Republic has to contend daily. This immense political potential is not lost to the Iranian opposition.
The Islamic organization of Mujahedeen has found it necessary to avail itself of a "Corollary to First in Charge" -- in ordinary human speech they have granted leadership status to [Mujahedeen leader Masoud] Rajavi's new wife. Many political organizations on the left who denied the relation between the struggle of women and that of the working class compete in laying claims to being champions of women's rights.
For its part the CPI has been giving practical directives to male workers to coordinate their struggle with the daily struggles of women workers against sexual apartheid in the factories. These are the perspectives we see before us expressed in a recent article called "Apartheid and Comments on Resistance" in Komonist No. 22 [Central Organ of the CPI]:
... "We not only want the liberation and equality of women, but moreover, what we are aiming at is that in the future history of Iran 'liberation of women' be associated with the name of 'workers.' Tomorrow, every free
Iranian woman who speaks of the history of her liberation must have spoken of the history of the revolutionary movement of the working class. This should be so, not only because at the moment the Iranian working class has the task of leading a mass revolution, but also for the simple reason that encroachment upon women's rights is a direct encroachment upon the rights of half of our class, and therefore direct encroachment upon the rights of our class as a whole." <>
Below we reprint excerpts from the Report of the Political Bureau to the Third Central Committee Plenum of the Communist Party of Iran. It is taken from the the first issue of the second series of Bolshevik Message last year, July 1985, which began the serialization in English of this report. This report dealt with many aspects of the work of the CPI. Here we take some sections of the report, particularly various passages that help one get a picture of the CPI's publications and party organizations inside Iran. The Report was presented to CPI's Central Committee by comrade Abdollah Mohtadi.
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Introduction
Comrades!
The Communist Party was formed in particular circumstances and in a particular way. The Party was formed in conditions under which the organizations which immediately made up its anatomy had suffered severe blows and were in disarray, as were all, or nearly all, of the political organizations of. the opposition in Iran. Moreover, the Communist Party was basically formed by relying on advanced cadres, therefore it could not be taken as a matter of course that the Party's organizational structure would be thoroughly communist. On the contrary, it was clear that the existing relations, traditions and methods had to be changed and replaced by communist relations and practical methods. Hence the Party's policy in the recent period was not the simple restructuring and expansion of the organizations; rather the principal aim and the axis of the Party's policies in the recent period became the building of a real, communist party relying on communist principles, theories, style of work and practical methods, and its expansion and consolidation among advanced workers....
Adopting such a policy after the formation of the communist party was completely natural and logical, for it was the logical continuation of the policy by revolutionary Marxism which itself had led to the formation of the Communist party. It should be remembered that the formation of the Communist Party itself was the product of the triumph of revolutionary Marxism in its consistent and purposeful struggle against populism in particular--a struggle during which populism endeavored through various pretexts and in various expressions to prevent the formation of the independent class party of the proletariat and put forth, instead, limited petty and short-sighted aims before the communists. In contrast to the populist and narrow outlooks prevalent in the left movement in Iran, revolutionary Marxism... succeeded in correctly recognizing and taking up the main link in the development of the class struggle of the proletariat for achieving political power, i.e., the communist party and its consolidation and expansion among the workers.
Therefore this policy of the Party, in so far as it turned outwards, became known as turning the Party into a workers' party, that is, absorbing and attracting the advanced elements and the practical leaders of the workers' movement into the ranks of the Party. In so far as the policy concerned the ranks of the Party, it took on the name of consolidating the Party ideologically, politically, and organizationally, basing the Party's activities, methods, organs and members on communist principles and style of work, creating the (organizational) tools, and planning the party's activities and organs.
... this policy... has proved its correctness in practice, and in our view is the policy which, in its general outline, should also be the guiding principles of the Party's activity in the forthcoming period. …
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The various areas of the Party's activity which should be examined respectively, consist of:
1) Agitation and propaganda
2) Party organization
3) Non-party organization
4) Intra-Party relations
5) Theoretical struggle
6) International activity
7) The national movement in Kurdistan
1--Propaganda and agitation or Party agitation in general
Our Party's agitation in the recent period has generally been active, extensive and coherent. At the same time, it has suffered from certain weaknesses and shortcomings which must be overcome. By way of comparison, the Communist Party has been the most active agitator among all the opposition forces, and we have left behind an active, extensive and rich agitational period. In the same way, if we consider the Kurdistan organization of the Party, that too has been the most active agitational force among all the opposition political forces in Kurdistan. The radios of the Party and the several Party journals during this period, have constantly introduced and carried out propaganda about the Communist Party, its aims, slogans and policies among the advanced elements of the working class and the broad masses of workers and toilers.
Since our Party is a current which has been, steeled in an ideological struggle against revisionism, populism and other deviationist tendencies and possesses theoretical coherence, our agitation also, has on the whole been coherent and has suffered from few mistakes. Our agitation has also been effective and successful in relation to the non-proletarian opposition. Without making the slightest concession to them, we have expressed and spread our clear proletarian policy and our communist critique of them. On the whole, we have built up our critique of them on correct axes and confronted them on correct areas.
Nevertheless, our agitation and propaganda suffer from certain inadequacies which can be summed up as follows:
1) Although we have constantly propagated socialism, we have not been so successful in its agitation in simple terms and in its practical interpretation into an agitational language. We must be able to constantly express and disseminate socialism in simple agitational language. The basic beliefs and fundamental aims of the Communist Party on the necessity and possibility of the destruction of capitalism and private property, the abolition of classes, class differences and the state, the world character of the working class and of its struggle and aims, equality, workers' government and so on, should constantly be propagated in lively and tangible forms.
2) Our agitation on revisionism in general and modern revisionism in particular has been inadequate and insufficient. Agitation about revisionism, and modern revisionism in particular, must be seriously placed on the agenda, and the Russian Party and Russian state must be exposed, particularly in regard to their revisionism and their treachery to the cause of the working class.
3) On tactics in the broad sense of the term, i.e., on the minimum part of the program, the necessity of the overthrow of the Islamic Republic through a mass uprising and its substitution by the revolutionary democratic republic, and the economic, social and political content of this revolutionary republic, our agitation has been quite satisfactory. Nevertheless we have had certain shortcomings and delays in regard to specific tactics. We can name, for instance, the new situation of the Iran-Iraq war and the present role of the. war in the policies of the two belligerent parties.... We could also have been more active in the attitude towards the specific questions of the workers' movement.
4) Finally, it should be said that agitation on the basis of a plan of action or agitational campaign over a specific aim or struggle, has not as yet found its place in our party, and whether inside the country or abroad, we are weak in this respect. In the forthcoming period, the Party and its agitational organs must be able to carry out purposeful, planned and centralized agitation around certain struggles and policies, and, in additional to routine agitation, organize and rally forces around specific agitational projects (for example, from struggle over the Islamic Labor Law down to forced immigrations, the KDP's armed attacks, the freedom of political prisoners, and so on).
Speaking specifically of the agitational areas and organs of the Party, we must say that:
1--The "Radio Voice of the Communist Party" has been a successful agitational organ, and has played the principal role in the mass propaganda of the aims, policies and slogans of the Communist Party, and in teaching socialism and the fundamental aims of the Communist Party to the increasing numbers of the new supporters of the Party. The Voice of the Communist Party, moreover, has occupied a unique position in serving our organizational tasks. With regard to the entire activities of the Communist Party, the Voice of the Communist Party has played a considerable part in breaking the atmosphere of passivity among the advanced workers and activists. This organ must pay the necessary attention to the agitational expression of socialism and also to educational and agitational programs.
2--Komonist: The regular publication of the Komonist is in itself an important achievement. Komonist has, moreover, played the primary and essential part in guiding the activists--from the viewpoint of putting forward ideas and guidelines which have later been taken up by other Party organs. On exposing the bourgeois opposition and the opportunist forces too, the Komonist has played the guiding role for other agitational organs. Nevertheless, the Komonist has not always and in all its issues been able to fully carry out the basic line presented in Komonist No. 2, even though in such cases too the articles in Komonist have been of value in themselves. Komonist must deal with greater precision with the problems of the workers' movement, the questions facing our activists in the cities, and with the explanation of the communist style of work.
3--The Voice of the Revolution has turned into the radio of the large masses of the Kurdish people, and has acquired a significant place in the presentation and propaganda of the policies of the Communist Party in Kurdistan. The Voice of the Revolution must take on a more socialist weight and substance; al movement, it must reflect and represent the independent working class rank more clearly and saliently.
On the other hand, the Voice of the Revolution must play a more effective and purposeful role the movements and struggles of protest of the masses. Of particular importance for the Voice of the Revolution is having specific and centralized agitational projects and giving due weight to agitational campaigns.
The Voice of the Revolution must also be connected much more seriously to our organizational organ in Kurdistan,....
4--Pishro in Farsi. Although each of its articles and writings are in themselves valuable, the main problem is that it does not follow a particular periodic policy and has therefore been unable to function purposefully.... also Pishro must form such close and lively relations with our organizational activists in Kurdistan and the specific problems and obstacles of the class struggle they encounter, as to enable it to offer them clear and principled answers.
5--Pishro in Kurdish has played an effective role in the agitation and propaganda of communist aims and principles in general and of the views of revolutionary Marxism in particular, in the Kurdish language, and has made important effects on the advanced elements of the left movement at large in Kurdistan. From now on Pishro must play its part toward spreading the Party's ideas, views and policies more seriously and more purposefully.
6--Oktobre, as the publication of the Committee of the Communist Party abroad, has been able to draw attention to the Communist Party and has endeavored to fill the vacuum of the Party's agitation among the Iranians abroad. Concerning Oktobre, we must point out that the journal must pay due attention to direct agitation to expose the Islamic Republic. Moreover, the language and agitational tone of Oktobre should be corrected in such a way as to enable it to confront the bourgeois opposition and the opportunist forces more profoundly and cogently. On the whole it must be said that Oktobre must be able to penetrate among an ever wider section of revolutionary and left Iranian forces and individuals in Europe, and to draw their attention and interest to the Communist Party.
7--Bolshevik Message, even though an independent journal prepared and published by supporters of the Communist Party abroad [but starting last year with issue #1 of the second series, it became the paper of the Communist Party of Iran (Committee Abroad) -- Supplement], ... Although not all the views and policies expressed in the journal are approved by us, however the positive point which must be mentioned is that in the course of its activity, this journal has succeeded in drawing the attention of the left parties abroad--[in] Europe in particular-- to revolutionary marxism and the Communist Party of Iran.
2--Party Organization
The second issue is that of Party organization, and this we shall discuss at the national level, at the level of Kurdistan, and abroad.
At the national level. As was pointed out in the introduction to the report, on the eve of the formation of the Communist Party a considerable part of the secret organizations of the forces of revolutionary Marxism in Iranian cities had been destroyed as a result of blows by the police. Many of our comrades had been imprisoned and some others had been forced into the open and had come to Kurdistan. The other organizations too which had joined revolutionary Marxism had, at the time of the formation of the Party, suffered heavy blows by the police and some were in complete disarray. Therefore at the time of the formation of the Party what we had was not centralized secret organizations, but basically disjointed activists and remainders of organizations. The policy that the Communist Party adopted from its inception, as its official policy, was the policy of disjointed cell-type organization and activity in the places of work and residence of workers and toilers. This was not an impromptu policy for the Party; its origins lay in the discussions on style of work in the First Congress of the Unity of Communist Militants [one of the two main organizations which constituted the CPI -- note of Bolshevik Message], and even from the organizational point of view an Organizing Committee had been set up before the formation of the Party. According to this policy, our organization in the forthcoming period was to be made up of cells formed in the places of work and residence of the workers, and toilers, connected to the Party central leadership in a disjointed and columnar fashion, and simultaneously with it the Party's propaganda and agitational arsenal would, by means of the radio and the journals, support and feed all these disjointed cells. We can say that we have been relatively successful in this policy of ours. Although we have not yet been quite successful in one part of the plan, i.e., covering large parts of Iran's working class cities and districts by miniature-size journals, due to financial problems and also because of the moving of the district committees in Kurdistan; but considering the important part that the Party radio has played in this respect, and the leadership that the Organizing Committee has provided, on the basis of this policy, we have been generally successful, and at the present moment the Communist Party can speak of a real secret organization in Iran's cities and among the workers.
A criterion which can indicate our progress in this case and depict our present situation is the number of the letters reaching the Communist Party (for the radio, the Organizing Committee, the Editorial Board, etc.). The number of letters received by the Voice of the Communist Party alone between December '83 and December '84, i.e., in the interval between the two plenums, exceeds 2,000. And this is only a part of the letters sent to us for a considerable number of them has not reached us. The increase in the number of letters is also noticeable: while the radio received, on average, 1 to 2 letters per day last December ('83), the number of letters received this December ('84) was 10 to 12 letters per day. Mentioning the letters received by the Radio Voice of the Communist Party here is important because those who get in touch with the radio by writing are not our ordinary listeners, but the active and advanced sections of our listeners who want to have organizational contact--even at its simple and elementary level, such as journalism for the Party.
Another objective indicator which can show our growth during this period is the extent of the news we receive about the workers' movement. At first, we used to complain of the insufficiency of workers' news, while recently there was a discussion in the editorial Board of Komonist that because of the great volume of the news that we have and the large space that this occupies in Komonist, a bi-weekly newsletter containing the news of the workers' and mass movement and the movement in Kurdistan should be published as the news supplement to Komonist. Not only is the bulk of the news incomparable with what we had in the past, but at the moment we receive news from various non-central regions and areas as well.
To sum up, we can now speak of consistent organizational networks of the Communist Party in the cities which carry out their Party tasks, receive the journals, have regular and consistent contacts, and even collect financial contributions.
A notable point about the city organizations is their texture and class composition. In this respect, our organization today is different from the previous organizations, has a mainly working class structure, and is composed of workers, or revolutionaries connected with the working class, and is (based) in their places of work and living.
Another point which must be noted about the secret city organizations is that since in the previous period our activists worked under disjointed (form of) organization and themselves had to take up the guidelines from the Komonist, the radio and the Organizing Committee, and adopt them creatively and themselves had to provide answers to the ideological and political problems of the workers' cells and circles to which they were connected, and also to the financial, security, communication, etc. problems, they are, as a result, independent-minded, and self-reliant comrades.
These qualities we can point out as achievements in our city organizations in this period.
What are the requirements and conditions for the improvement and promotion of our activities in the cities?
Party Organization in Kurdistan
Party organization among the workers and toilers in Kurdistan, despite all the efforts made, mainly because both in the allocation of energy and in the leadership's priorities, [it] has been overshadowed by the armed, national-democratic struggle, has advanced very slowly, and has not produced the expected results. Over the past year and after the Fourth Congress of Komala, noticeable efforts were made in this direction--from the reorganization of city committees and the extension of district committees, down to organizing centers for directing secret activity in the cities and rural areas, attempting to base these activities on principled plans, stressing on cell-type organization in the places of work and residence of the workers and toilers, and so on. Nevertheless, and despite the great turning of the workers and toilers towards us, the increase in their ability to organize, and the shaping and growth of class consciousness among their advanced strata, the truth is that at the moment in Kurdistan--in cities, villages and various workshops--we lack a firm cell-type and basic Party organization among the workers and toilers, and what we have is inadequate and inconsistent and does not correspond with the criteria and standards of cell-type work. The truth is that the Party organization that we now have among the workers and toilers in Kurdistan can by no means withstand the events which permanently threaten us in Kurdistan and endanger our activity. Our Party organization among the workers and toilers is to a large and dangerous extent a function of the armed movement. This is an essential weakness which must be overcome as soon as possible. Party organization must seriously be placed among the priorities of the Kurdistan Organization of the Party. While leading and advancing the armed movement and also taking advantage of the possibilities that the armed movement itself provides, we must be able to extend and consolidate Party organization among the workers and toilers, such that in the forthcoming period we would realistically rely on cells in the places of work and residence of the workers and toilers in the major cities and villages. The attainment of such a situation in Kurdistan requires our having the comprehensive project for Party organization, and devoting it the necessary status, energy and priority, from the leadership level of the Kurdistan Organization of our Party down to various other levels of the organization. Just as the Politbureau in the last period determined the Party's organization policy in Iran's cities and on its basis drew up the general project and plan of our organizational activity-- with all our organs and organizational bodies finding their place in this overall project--in Kurdistan too we must witness the same situation. The plan of activity for Party organization, based on our organizational policy in Kurdistan in the forthcoming period, must define the cells and cell activity in Kurdistan on the basis of the same principles and fundamentals of cell-type work, and with regard to the peculiarities of a cell in the conditions of Kurdistan, and must determine the role and place of the agitational organs such as "The Voice Of the Revolution" and Pishro in this connection. Our directing organizational center or centers in Kurdistan must make use of the radio as systematically as possible, and our organ in kurdistan must also fully realize this policy and play its special role in its advancement.
Party Organization abroad
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Between the Sixth and Seventh Congresses
In the article "On the period preceding the reversal in the line of the Communist International at the Seventh World Congress of 1935/Between the Sixth and Seventh Congress" (The Supplement, 15 July 1986), replace the following paragraph, from page 24, col.2
"However, it should be noted that the stereotyped forms of united front tactics were not the correct way in any period to utilize the united front from above or united front tactics in general. The intensifying situation undoubtedly made the rectification of these tactics even more urgent. And from the practical point of view, the stress on the united front from below was important. But there were certain limitations in the way this was described theoretically." with the paragraph below, in which the added or changed words have been put in boldface
"However, it should be noted that the stereotyped forms of united front tactics were not the correct way in any period to utilize the united front from above or united front tactics in general. The CI had always opposed such a view of united front tactics, as can be seen, for example, in the discussions at the 4th and 5th World Congresses of the CI. And from the practical point of view, the stress on the united front from below was important in fighting the stereotyped forms of united front work that had spread to a certain extent in the years preceding the Sixth Congress. As well, the intensifying situation at the time of the Sixth World Congress undoubtedly made the rectification of these tactics even more urgent. But there were certain limitations in the way this was described theoretically."
Ninth Anti-Imperialist and Anti-Fascist international Youth Camp
In the article "International Youth Camp Held in Managua" in the August 1, 1986 issue of The Workers' Advocate it is stated that "These forces vetoed the proposal to have the MLP,USA delegation participate in the youth camp in our own name." It may be noted that this veto occurred in the months prior to the camp. At the camp, these forces were upset at the presence of the delegation of the U.S. Campaign for the Nicaraguan Workers' Press. As the article stated, "they even went on a rampage against the agreed-upon decision [at the camp] to invite our comrades to take part in some of the events of the camp under the name of the Campaign for the Nicaraguan Workers' Press." <>
The following article appeared in Prensa Proletaria, central organ of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Nicaragua (MAP-ML), August '86, #22, under the title "Solidarity Tour of the American Working Class". The translation is by the Workers' Advocate staff.
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Since July 18, a delegation of the U.S. Campaign for the Nicaraguan Workers' Press has been here in Nicaragua with the aim of developing the practical work of solidarity with MAP-ML and Frente Obrero [Workers' Front]. This delegation brings together workers, students and popular activists from the U.S. who have been mobilized in the campaigns of solidarity carried out in the U.S., by the Marxist-Leninist Party, USA.
As part of the solidarity tour covered by the delegation we can point to the following activities: It visited the installations of the Metasa factory, where they met with the union leadership and with an assembly of the workers of this important metal industry of Managua. The delegation had similar activity at the Mauricio Duarte pig farm, where they gained knowledge about the trade union struggle in Nicaragua. With the workers of the rum factory of Chichigalpa, a small city in the West, they also carried out an intense discussion. As well, the delegation participated in the July 21 Inaugural Act of the Ninth International Anti-Imperialist and Anti-Fascist Youth Meeting.
The U.S. delegation took part in an act of protest in front of the embassy of their country, denouncing the imperialist war that American capitalism and its puppets impose on us, and giving expression to the class solidarity between the U.S. and Nicaraguan proletariat through their Parties, the MLP,USA and the MLPN (MAP-ML).
One of the most interesting experiences for the U.S. delegation was the visit to the peasant cooperativists of San Rafael in Jinotega. This is in a war zone where the armed peasants offered a warm internationalist greeting to the U.S. delegation.
In this way the U.S. working class demonstrates in practice how it concretely applies active and militant proletarian internationalism. The Nicaraguan proletariat joins itself in these struggles with the revolutionary proletariat of the United States. <>
The following statement from the U.S. workers' delegation organized by the MLP,USA appeared in Prensa Proletaria, central organ of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Nicaragua (MAP-ML), August '86, #22, under the title "A Summary of the Activities of the Delegation of the MLP,USA and of the Solidarity Committee". The translation is by the Workers' Advocate staff.
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On the invitation of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Nicaragua, there is presently in the country a solidarity tour by a delegation of workers and activists organized by the MLP,USA. In the face of the criminal aggression of U.S. imperialism, our delegation is here to express the militant solidarity of the American working people with the working masses of Nicaragua.
Our delegation has traveled extensively, meeting with diverse sectors of Nicaraguan society. In Leon we marched in the annual 23rd of July demonstration that commemorates the students who were assassinated there by Somoza in 1959. We visited the office of the MLPN in Chinandega, and we met in Chichigalpa with dozens of workers of the rum factory and the San Antonio sugar complex. In Boaco we met with militants and sympathizers of the MLPN as well as with Sandinista soldiers.
In Jinotega, the work of the Frente Obrero [MLPN's trade union organization] among the poor and landless peasants brought us another rich experience, There our delegation met in a school with a group. of armed peasants and their families. These cooperativists have been waging a struggle to seize the land of a landlord who has left the land idle.
In Tipitapa, our delegation took part in an assembly of the workers in the Metasa metal factory. On the outskirts of Managua, we visited a pig farm, where the workers explained to us why they had recently changed their union affiliation from the Sandinista CST. to the Frente Obrero. We also delivered medical supplies to the Manolo Morales Hospital. As well, our delegation observed a session of the National Assembly.
We have seen the difficulties that confront the working people as a result of the blockade and aggression of the U.S. imperialists. And we have seen the enormous revolutionary spirit of the masses to overcome all obstacles and advance their revolution.
At the same time, we have seen the consequences of the FSLN's policy of unity with the big exploiters. Under the themes of "political pluralism" and "mixed economy", this policy has undermined the struggle of the working masses against the counterrevolutionary forces of the big capitalists and landlords and of the Yankee imperialist aggressors.
During our visit we have been able to see the fruits of the work of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Nicaragua (MAP-ML) and the development of its trade union center, Frente Obrero. We have found a profound. respect among the working masses towards the MLPN. Even among some workers and soldiers who are under the influence of the FSLN, the Marxist-Leninists have been able to gain considerable recognition as consistent defenders of the class interests of the proletariat and the toilers.
The tour has been a militant demonstration of the internationalist solidarity between the, working people of our two countries. Our meetings with the workers, peasants and soldiers have been filled with an internationalist spirit of struggle against our common enemies, the U.S. imperialists and the bourgeoisie. Above all, the intense work and activity with the comrades of the MLPN have demonstrated the strength of the proletarian internationalist ties that exist between our two brother Marxist-Leninist parties.
Soon our delegation will be returning to the U.S. to continue our struggle for the proletarian revolution -- for the destruction of our "own" imperialist government. We will return more determined than ever to build the mass struggle against the U.S. imperialist war against Nicaragua. What we have learned will assist us in our work to combat the Reaganite lies against the Nicaraguan revolution. And it will reenforce our work to develop political and material support for the working class and toilers of Nicaragua and for their Marxist-Leninist Party (MAP-ML), who are struggling heroically in defense of the revolution and to advance it towards the triumph of socialism.
Delegation of U.S. workers organized by the MLP,USA Managua, July 30, 1986 <>