MARCHA DE MUJERES WW PHOTO: JOE PIETTE 12 Jan. 26 . - Workers World Party

Page 2Feb. 2, 2017workers.org‘When the boss won’t talk,don’t take a walk — Sit down!’By Martha Grevatt In the U.S.Protests flood airports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1When the speed-up comes, just twiddle yourthumbsSit Down! Sit Down!When the boss won’t talk, don’t take a walkSit Down! Sit Down!Sit down, just take a seatSit down, and rest your feetSit down, you’ve got ‘em beatSit down! Sit down!“Sit Down” by Maurice SugarOn Feb. 7, 1937, the New York Times bemoanedthe fact that workers in Flint, Mich., had “actuallyseized physical possession of three large factoriesbelonging to General Motors. They occupied andheld those plants by force of arms, repelling effortsto evict them and starve them out. They ejected andbarred company representatives and police. And set Workers occupied General Motors plants in Flint, Mich., in 1937. Over50 GM plants with more than 125,000 employees were shut downup executive councils that ran the plants.“Once a sit-down strike has become a state of oc- until the UAW was recognized.cupation, there is little a company can do.”Those who took the side of labor back then enthusi- es for workers in the sit-down. The strikers are far lessastically agreed. “The sit-down is labor’s weapon of eco- vulnerable than they are on the picket line because emnomic self-defense,” stated Maurice Sugar, attorney for ployers hesitate to attack the sit-downers when it may inthe United Auto Workers during the Flint Sit-down. The jure their own property. The sit-down effects a complete44-day occupation forced mighty GM, then the world’s tie-up and the workers are protected against violencebiggest corporation, to recognize the union.and strikebreakers, from cold weather and the rain. TheIn October of 2016, almost 80 years later, we saw the plant is completely closed and scabbing is impossible; asoccupation tactic force the mighty Harvard University a training ground for education, it is far better than theCorporation to abandon its attempt to impose austerity ordinary strike.”demands on dining hall workers belonging to UNITEEvents bore this out. From 1929 to 1936, at least 96HERE Local 26. As students and workers occupied the workers in the U.S. were killed on picket lines. This figvery building while negotiations were going on, Harvard ure does not include 15 shot down in marches of the unwas forced to grant the striking workers what they want- employed, including five killed during the Ford Hungered. (Workers World, Oct. 31)March by Ford’s notorious “Service Department.” NorThere is much we can learn from the sit-downs of long does it include Ralph Gray, the Black leader of the Shareago about effective tactics in today’s class struggles.croppers Union lynched in Alabama, or two Filipino cannery workers’ leaders shot inside a Seattle restaurant,Advantages of the sit-downand other martyrs too numerous to mention.Journalist and eyewitness to the Flint strike MaryBy contrast, of the hundreds of U.S. sit-downs thatHeaton Vorse wrote, “[T]here are manifold advantagContinued on page 3‘When the boss won’t talk, don’t take a walk — Sit down!’ . 2Lessons of the Harvard dining hall strike victory Part 1 . . . . 3BLM and union hold joint protest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Trump regime escalates attacks on millions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Protesters fight back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4What’s next for revolutionaries in the Trump era? . . . . . . . . . 5Thousands protest Trump and GOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Airport protests set new level of solidarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Philadelphia: Unity and diversity at Tribute to Fidel . . . . . . . . 8Lansing, Mich.: Images, memories honor Cuban leader . . . . 8Mumia Abu-Jamal: Women march against Washington . . . . 8Oakland people’s encampment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Around the worldWarning to Trump: Bash Mexico, incite revolution . . . . . . . . 9Thousands of Haitians trapped at U.S. border . . . . . . . . . . . . 9U.S. gag rule garrotes global health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10China takes another big step away from CO2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 EditorialsFiring of Yates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Bannon — Worst yet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Noticias en Español‘Resistencia a Trump’ se vuelve global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Una reseña: Los jovenes pueden romper la cadena demando . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Workers World147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl.New York, NY 10011Phone: 212.627.2994E-mail: ww@workers.orgWeb: www.workers.orgVol. 59, No. 5 Feb 2, 2017Closing date: Jan. 31, 2017Editor: Deirdre GriswoldManaging Editors: John Catalinotto, LeiLani Dowell,Kris Hamel, Monica Moorehead, Minnie Bruce Pratt;Web Editor Gary WilsonWho we are & what we’re fighting forHate capitalism? Workers World Party fights for as ocialist society — where the wealth is socially ownedand production is planned to satisfy human need. Thisoutmoded capitalist system is dragging down workers’living standards while throwing millions out of theirjobs. If you’re young, you know they’re stealing yourfuture. And capitalism is threatening the entire planetwith its unplanned, profit-driven stranglehold over themeans of production.Workers built it all — it belongs to society, not to ahandful of billionaires! But we need a revolution tomake that change. That’s why for 59 years WWP hasbeen building a revolutionary party of the workingclass inside the belly of the beast.We fight every kind of oppression. Racism, sexism, egrading people because of their nationality, sexual ordgender identity or disabilities — all are tools the rulingclass uses to keep us apart. They ruthlessly super-exploit some in order to better exploit us all. WWP buildsunity among all workers while supporting the rightof self-determination. Fighting oppression is a working-class issue, which is confirmed by the many laborstruggles led today by people of color, immigrants andwomen.WWP has a long history of militant opposition to imperialist wars. The billionaire rulers are bent on turningback the clock to the bad old days before socialist revolutions and national liberation struggles liberated territoryfrom their grip. We’ve been in the streets to oppose everyone of imperialism’s wars and aggressions.Contact a Workers World Party branch near you:workers.org/wwpNational Office147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl.New York, NY 10011212.627.2994wwp@workers.orgAtlantaPO Box 18123Atlanta, GA 30316404.627.0185atlanta@workers.orgBaltimorec/o Solidarity Center2011 N. 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Box 57300Washington, DC 20037dc@workers.orgPortland, rgProduction & Design Editors: Coordinator Lal Roohk;Andy Katz, Cheryl LaBashCopyediting and Proofreading: Sue Davis,Bob McCubbinContributing Editors: Abayomi Azikiwe,Greg Butterfield, G. Dunkel, K. Durkin,Fred Goldstein, Martha Grevatt, Teresa Gutierrez,Berta Joubert-Ceci, Terri Kay, Cheryl LaBash,Milt Neidenberg, John Parker, Bryan G. Pfeifer,Betsey Piette, Gloria RubacMundo Obero: Redactora Berta Joubert-Ceci;Ramiro Fúnez, Teresa Gutierrez, Donna Lazarus,Carlos VargasSupporter Program: Coordinator Sue DavisCopyright 2017 Workers World. Verbatim copyingand distribution of articles is permitted in any mediumwithout royalty provided this notice is preserved.Workers World (ISSN-1070-4205) is published weeklyexcept the first week of January by WW Publishers,147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10011. Phone:212.627.2994. Subscriptions: One year: 30; institutions: 35. Letters to the editor may be condensed andedited. Articles can be freely reprinted, with credit toWorkers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl., New York, NY10011. Back issues and individual articles are availableon microfilm and/or photocopy from NA Publishing,Inc, P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-0998. Asearchable archive is available on the Web atwww.workers.org.A headline digest is available via e-mail subscription.Subscription information is at workers.org/email.php.Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y.POSTMASTER: Send address changes toWorkers World, 147 W. 24th St. 2nd Fl.New York, N.Y. 10011.

workers.orgFeb. 2, 2017Page 3Part 1: Advance preparationLessons of the Harvard dining hall strike victoryBy Ed ChildsThe Harvard University Dining Service workers are a majority women, amajority immigrant and half workers ofcolor. Our members are from all over theworld — Africa, Asia, the Middle East,Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. We have long-term veteran workersand young workers. How did this diverseworkforce — who said to the world that“Health Care Is a Human Right!” — cometogether and defeat the Harvard Corporation, run by the likes of Citigroup andGoldman Sachs?We had a militant rank-and-file committee, but most were new to organizing a fightback. Our strike was spreadout over 20 different locations in eightschools in two different cities. How didwe overcome these challenges?We began preparing for a possiblestrike well in advance, holding numerousmeetings in every dining hall, on everyshift, as well as constituency meetings.These included constituencies withinthe union — cooks, dishwashers, serversand cashiers — but also constituencieson campus: law students and medicalstudents; Black, Muslim, LGBTQ andwomen’s organizations; and other campus unions. At every meeting we wentover Harvard’s takeaway demands pointby point.The need for affordable, quality andpreventive health care is universally understood. Our rank and file was part ofthat experience. They recognized laterSit down!Continued from page 2took place from 1935 to 1937, only 25were physically attacked, and there wereno fatalities.In every case, strikers returned to workwith a newfound sense of power. For example, in 1935 an Akron rubber workerwrote to the local newspaper about hisdreary existence, concluding, “We’venothing to look forward to. We’re factoryhands.” But after one of many successfulsit-downs, another Akron rubber workerproclaimed, “Now we know our labor ismore important than the money of thestockholders, than the gambling in WallStreet, than the doings of the managersand foremen.”Almost 50 years after that sit-downstrike wave, Sam Marcy wrote in “HighTech, Low Pay” that a workplace occupation “can change the form of the struggle, take it out of its narrow confinesand impart to it a broader perspective.In truth, it brings to the surface a newworking-class perspective on the struggle between the workers and the bosses.It says in so many words that we are nottied to a one-dimensional type of struggle with the bosses at a time when theyhave the levers of political authority intheir hands.”Marcy keenly observed the impact ofhigh technology on the working class, anticipating its ravaging effects and lookingfor methods of struggle that would giveexploited labor its greatest advantage.Towards this end he drew upon the accumulated lessons of the sit-downs.The bold strike tactics, including occupations, that workers used to win againstthe Harvard Corporation confirm the potential of sit-downs and occupations asstruggle-expanding strategies.The 750 striking Harvard University Dining Service workers — cooks,dishwashers, servers and cashiers — brought multibillion-dollar HarvardUniversity to its knees on Oct. 25, 2016. After a three-week strike, the universitybosses caved, giving the members of UNITE HERE Local 26 even more thanthey had initially demanded. Most importantly, all the health care takeaways theHarvard Corporation had demanded were off the table. The strike victory holdsvaluable lessons for the workers and oppressed in the age of global capitalism —particularly now, under the Trump administration and the rise of fascist, racistelements. Workers World’s Martha Grevatt interviewed Chief Steward Ed Childs,a cook and leader in Local 26 for more than 40 years. This is the first in a series ofarticles based on the interviews where Childs explains how the workers won.PHOTO: UNITE HERE LOCAL 26health care. They never said they couldn’tafford it. They said, “This is the industryout there.” To settle our health care demand would have cost them less thanhalf a million dollars. But they offered 1 million to 1.5 million worth of stuffwe weren’t even asking for if we wouldjust drop our demand to hold the line onhealth care. Our ranks knew that.On June 20 our contract expired. Theusual summer layoffs took out all but 200of our members. In September everyonecame back ready to fight. There was anear-consensus on campus to support usif we struck for health care. We gave thebosses an ultimatum: If you don’t give in,we are going out.Building coalition around health carebenefitswhy all these seemingly endless meetingswere necessary.Building union structureThrough the decades we have built aclassic structure for union organizingand developed leadership in the rank andfile. We did this through classes — forshop stewards, organizing and leadership — and by meeting with workers oneon-one. We brought leaders up from thebottom.I teach a course on organizing. Youneed a structure. At each worksite thereare one or two stewards and secondary leaders. We have regular stewardand leadership meetings. The structurebuilds the ranks, gives you more optionsabout how to organize and takes care ofa high turnover of workers by not relying on just one leader. This means youcan survive — it’s more work, but youget more satisfaction and results. In theGeneral Motors sit-downs in the 1930s,the United Auto Workers had a structurethat engaged the rank and file. It couldnot have succeeded with a top-down,business unionism model.In the past there had been a largeturnover of top leaders, so we focusedon building leaders in the dining hallsagain. No hall went through the past yearwithout a major meeting every couple ofmonths.Another purpose of these meetingswas to politicize the issue of health care.As far as the bourgeoisie were concerned,the money that goes toward health carewas forced upon them by past struggles,and now they were going to take it backand keep the money themselves. The capitalists let loose on us over health care.There had been a successful campaignto get rid of the previous Harvard president, Larry Summers. The CEO of Goldman Sachs then took over the reins asinterim president. That’s when HarvardCorporation took direct control. The president had an open house, invited unionpeople and spelled out that the corporation intended to take a lot away and themain thing was health care. Throughoutthe entire economy, the bosses are doingit, so Goldman Sachs figures, why not atHarvard?Goldman, Bank of America, Citibankand their ilk all have had campaigns toundo health care. They actually told usyears before that they would target us.It was a political campaign to undercutpensions, to keep layoffs with no compensation, but particularly to cut ourCoalition building was paramount.Spending over 40 years in the leadershipof Workers World Party has taught methat. We reached out to all groups thathad an interest in joining us in the struggle to maintain health care benefits.Everyone in the university community is in some way affected by the lack ofadequate or affordable medical care ordiscrimination in health care. Professorsand graduate student workers — who atHarvard are not unionized — are threatened by increased payments for healthcare. There are students who have nohealth insurance.Women, Muslims, people of color andLGBTQ people are all discriminatedagainst by the health care industry undercapitalism. They had a stake in the coalition, which was built up slowly and withpatience over time. It included groupslike the Black Student Association, Harvard Islamic Society, Muslim Student Society, Harvard Law Students, Black LawStudents, Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM), campus LGBTQ groupsand women’s groups, and the Jewish student group Hillel.Well before the strike began, the unionembraced all these constituencies witha stake in the demand for affordable,quality, preventive health care for all. Wemet at a dormitory called Adams Housein April, and this cemented the coalitionamong our members, students, facultyand other campus unions. A lot of radical students, including those in SLAM,live at Adams. Two progressive professors hosted the meeting. The union offiContinued on page 8BLM and union hold joint protestBy Chris FryAlbany, N.Y.When Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehangave her annual State of the City speechon Jan. 25, she was confronted by a disruptive demonstration called jointly byBlack Lives Matter and the Albany BlueCollar Workers Union, Local 1961 of theAmerican Federation of State, Countyand Municipal Employees. Other organizations, such as the Capital District Showing Up for Racial Justice, also participated. Despite a large contingent of cops, theprotest maintained chanting and singingthroughout the mayor’s speech.On April 2, 2015, Dontay Ivy, an unarmed 39-year-old Black man who suffered from mental illness, had been taking his normal nighttime walk when hewas surrounded by several Albany cops.Ivy was Tasered, clubbed and tackled.As he lay on the sidewalk, Ivy suffered aheart attack and died.Prosecutors refused to charge the cops.None were even fired. No explanationwas offered as to why Ivy was stopped inthe first place.This is the second year that BlackLives Matter activists have disruptedthe mayor’s speech to demand justice forIvy. Mayor Sheehan responded by saying: “That’s an easy solution that doesn’tactually accomplish anything. It mightsound simple and it might make themfeel good, but it doesn’t change a department.” (timesunion.com, Jan. 27)This comment drew the full fury of theprotesters, who called for not only firingthe cops involved but also firing the po-lice chief and disarming the police department.The Blue Collar Workers Union hasbeen forced to work without a contract ora pay raise since 2013. The 2017 Albanycity budget offers no raises for the city’sblue- or white-collar workers, but doesgive a pay hike to some non-union staff,which city administrators say is necessary for them to “remain competitive.”(timesunion.com, Nov. 7)Albany cops, however, do get their“step” pay increases in the new budget.(timesunion.com, Oct. 11)So the chants of “No justice, No peace!”as well as “Hey! Ho! Kathy Sheehan’s gotto go!” hurled nonstop at Mayor Sheehanreflected the sentiments of both Albany’soppressed community as well as its cityworkers.

Page 4Feb. 2, 2017workers.orgTrump regime escalates attacks on millionsBy Abayomi AzikiweAfter just seven days of President Donald Trump’s administration, a host ofmeasures have been ordered threateninga myriad of constituencies throughoutthe country and internationally.Executive orders and presidentialmemoranda have been announced relating to the resumption of construction onthe Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL); thebuilding of a wall or fence on the border between the U.S. and Mexico; a banon people from targeted nations seekingvisas and refugee status; muzzling communications from government agencies;threats of withholding federal assistanceto municipalities that refuse to turn overpeople designated as “illegal” by the state;and other actions.Mexican President Enrique Peña N ietowas scheduled to travel to the White Housefor a meeting with Trump to discuss bilateral relations. On Jan. 26, Mexico announced that the meeting was cancelled.The administration’s insistence thata wall be built on the southern borderand that Mexico pay for it has createdtensions between the two nations. TheMexican government has repeatedly rejected Trump’s assertion that Mexico willfinance the project, eliminating the basisfor any normal relations.The Mexican leader issued the following tweet: “This morning we have informed the White House that I will notattend the meeting scheduled for nextTuesday with the @POTUS.”Worsening nationaland political repressionPeople of Latin American descent havebeen designated as the largest nationalminority in the U.S. From an historicalperspective, the Southwest and WestCoast of the U.S. were seized from Mexico during a war of annexation in the mid19th century. Many Mexicans, even thosewith U.S. citizenship, face systematic discrimination and national oppression.Another major executive order wouldresume construction of the Keystone XLand Dakota Access pipelines. The DAPLis slated to run through lands still controlled by Native people. A massive solidarity movement sprang up in 2016 involving millions across the country andthe world. Thousands of people traveledto the Standing Rock Sioux lands to serveas “human shields” against attacks carried out by law enforcement, the militaryand private security personnel workingon behalf of the corporations spearheading the pipeline, which would transport500,000 barrels of oil per day.Trump noted that 93 percent of theproject has been completed and that itwould create jobs for American workers.Yet the total number of positions is only afew thousand, and these purported benefits ignore the legitimate concerns of theIndigenous people, who say their watersupply and other sacred possessions arethreatened by the pipeline.According to Eurasia Review, “A lawyer for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribesaid the decision was made ‘hastily andirresponsibly.’ The tribe said it intendedto pursue legal action against Trump’s order, adding that the pipeline posed a risknot just for their water supply but alsofor millions of Americans living downstream. One of the leading organizationsin the Standing Rock protests, the Indigenous Environmental Network, calledTrump’s actions ‘insane and extreme,and nothing short of attacks on our ancestral homelands.’”In contrast to the views of Native people and their legal representatives, thepresident of the North Dakota PetroleumCouncil, Ron Ness, who heads the tradegroup representing oil firms, championed Trump’s decision, saying it was “agreat step forward for energy security inAmerica.”Two additional statements from theTrump administration have significancefor African-American people. The president tweeted on Jan. 24, “If Chicagodoesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage’ going on,228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!”It was not clear if Trump was referringto federal civilian employees or militarypersonnel. The National Guard for thestate of Illinois could be federalized orregular units of the Army could be deployed in such a threat.No mention was made of the horrendous socioeconomic conditions prevailing among African Americans in Chicagoand the state of Illinois, where they suffer the highest unemployment rate in thecountry. Drastic cuts in education, socialand municipal services have been implemented while the leading corporationsin the U.S. announce regular increasesin their profits.Precedents for such military deployments extend back decades. In Detroit,Newark, Chicago, Washington, D.C., LosAngeles and other cities in the 1960s,both National Guard and Airborne Di-visions were sent to put down urban rebellions led by African Americans. Justover the last two years, National Guardforces have been sent to Ferguson, Mo.(2014), Baltimore (2015), Milwaukee andCharlotte, N.C. (2016), in the aftermath ofAfrican-American rebellions sparked bythe police killings of civilians.Local police agencies have been suppliedwith military equipment such as armoredpersonnel carriers, long-range acousticaldevices, chemical agents, helicopters andsophisticated intelligence technology bythe federal government. Under the presentregime it is inevitable that the transfer ofthis hardware will increase.Moreover, Trump is maintaining thathis loss of the popular vote in the November election is a direct result of voterfraud. Trump won in the Electoral College but received nearly 3 million fewerpopular votes than Hillary Clinton.Allegations of massive voter fraud areoften utilized to further suppress theelectoral weight of African Americansand other nationally oppressed groups.Rev. Edward Pinkney of Berrien County,Mich., in 2014 was falsely accused of altering five dates on recall petitions aimedat removing a mayor who was perceivedas a functionary of the Whirlpool Corp.,based in Bento

In defense of Muslims, refugees. Page 2 Feb. 2, 2017 workers.org Workers World 147 W. 24th St., 2nd Fl. . unity among all workers while supporting the right of self-determination. Fighting oppression is a work- . then the world's . workers.