NEW YORK, February 5— Over 45 students, faculty, staff, and parents, including members of the communist Progressive Labor Party (PLP) marched on the home of the City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Felix “Felo” Matos Rodriguez in Pelham, New York, humorously advertised as “Brunch with Felo.” We were sending a message that we, the united working class, won’t accept the racist austerity at CUNY. The relatively quiet suburb was rocked by chants, speeches, and later, music.
These struggles give PLP members and friends lessons in class struggle—learning how to organize, be bold, and struggle with friends and co-workers to step forward. We want to continue working with education workers and students to build this movement towards a strike, and, at the same time, to expose the nature of capitalist education and the limits of reform.
We stay ready
Under capitalism, any reforms we win are short-lived. Our students and the international working-class deserve nothing less than communism. Fighting for that new world means masses of students and workers must join PLP and fight for communist revolution.
The demonstration was called for by RAFA (Rank and File Action), a group of union members who have been leading a fight back to build strike readiness. Meanwhile PLP members are building “revolution readiness.” Capitalist education at CUNY, led by its filthy rich chancellor, is a racist disaster. The Wall Street bankers and business owners who control CUNY want to brainwash us to become compliant workers as they rake in billions and eventually they want us to be willing soldiers in their imperialist wars for profit.
While many of our students come from the Bronx, including the poorest Congressional district in the U.S. (District 15 in the South Bronx Chancellor Rodriguez lives in Pelham, one of the wealthier communities in the U.S., and enjoys a salary of $670,000 a year, plus a monthly housing stipend of $7,500. While his appointment was declared “groundbreaking,” as the first Latin Chancellor at CUNY, Rodriguez’s only real success was shuffling CUNY’s nearly 500,000 mostly Black, Latin and immigrant students into a program of racist austerity.
As we marched up the slippery roads, we chanted and took over the streets by the Chancellor’s home, giving speeches about the need to fight racism, the need for multiracial unity, and the need to fight for communism where workers run society.
“We accomplished a lot”
Spirits were high as we made ourselves comfortable on the chancellor’s lawn. Leaflets were distributed to passing cars titled, “Do you know your neighbor?” We collectively organized food and small snack tables were set up with a spread of muffins, rolls, fruit, coffee, and even tamales. A radio was hung from the tree as we listened to music and chatted, getting to know each other, and continuing to exchange ideas about the struggle at CUNY. Signs were planted on the chancellor’s lawn demanding free tuition as marchers and PL’ers shared and discussed the latest issues of CHALLENGE.
Especially given the weather constraints, the fact that last week's protest was canceled due to a storm, and a travel advisory that was issued the day of, this “brunch” escalated our battle. While a patrol car sat down the street, and an irate neighbor let her dog out to bark at us, it was made clear that this was just the opening shot. One of the speakers from a student strike committee said, “I feel like we accomplished a lot.”
This rising spirit of fight-back is crucial in building an international Party. With each reform struggle, with each street we take, with each lawn we overrun, our confidence in ourselves, in our comrades, and in our ability to eventually build a communist revolution, the ultimate goal, grows sharper.
Welcome back, fight back!
CUNY is no stranger to racist austerity and has been running on the backs of underpaid adjuncts, or part timers, for a long time. But clearly, the Covid-19 pandemic has sharpened the situation on campuses and each semester, students, staff, and faculty are faced with ever worsening conditions. While there has been a push to reopen the campuses, especially with the “70-30” mandate ( 70 percent of classes in person and 30 percent virtual), many campuses are not ready.
On one Bronx campus, the library isn’t open enough to meet student needs and the buildings are falling apart. On another campus, there is nowhere for students to sit, the cafeteria is closed, there is no soap in the bathroom, and a major outdoor garden is closed. Many of the facilities are not ready, and because of the arbitrary “70/30” rule, many classes have been canceled, resulting in adjunct layoffs. On one campus, it’s so disorganized that students wait in line outside just to get on campus, on top of many more health and safety violations all over CUNY campuses. The list goes on!
Brunch was just the beginning
This was a bold idea and everyone who participated felt it was a successful event. While we are told everything is “back to normal” and forced back into dire conditions, the meetings where these decisions are made, such as Board of Trustees hearings, are still virtual. So, the idea of remaining in the Chancellor’s face is one that appeals to us!
Our “brunch” was a glimpse of what that new world could be, with everyone sharing, no bosses, and standing together as equals whether student or faculty. From immersion in these day-to-day struggles to building a strike movement against the CUNY bosses, these “schools for communism” also teach us how to build for revolution. We invite our friends to join PLP and apply these lessons to help lead our class to the ultimate victory of communism!