Union Retirees Back Protests for Kyam

NEW YORK CITY, October 29 — The retiree association of District Council 37 voted today to support the activities of the Committee for Justice for Kyam Livingston who died in a Brooklyn holding cell on July 21. The association, which represents 50,000 retired NYC government workers, will help circulate the petition seeking Justice for Kyam and will accept contributions for activities backing the aims of that committee.
The retirees voted this support out of an understanding that what happened to Kyam could have happened to many of our members, their children or grandchildren. Our collective experience in the union movement taught us well the lesson that unity of black, Latino and white workers, men and women, is the only way we can move forward. Also, many of us understand that the principled fight against racist police violence is an important way to build real unity.

Condemn NYPD’s Racist Murder

BROOKLYN, NY, October 21 — “Justice for Kyam Livingston — killed in a Brooklyn cell” echoed down the cold, darkening, windswept street outside 120 Schermerhorn St. here today. This is the courthouse that holds the local Central Booking, backing on to the Brooklyn House of Detention. The gathering of more than 120 chanting people was multi-racial, young and old, men and women. Although the street was dark and cold, the fire of the words burned against the walls of Central Booking.

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Rip Israeli Rulers’ Racist Neglect, Segregation

SOUTH TEL-AVIV, October 13 ­— Hundreds of workers of various ethnicities — Jews, Palestinians and African refugees — marched in the south of the city against the horrible neglect of their neighborhoods by the racist, capitalist city hall. They called for the dissolution of the “ghettos,” for an end to racial segregation and for power for the local residents. This working-class rally came a mere week after a racist march by fascists, also in south Tel-Aviv, against the “infiltrator problem” (what racists call the African refugees, who escaped genocide in Darfur or murderous tyranny in Eritrea.)

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France: Capitalist Unemployment Spreading

PARIS, November 6 — A new wave of layoffs has hit France, where official unemployment is 5,473,000 (19.3 percent). Some are due to companies going under in the continuing Great Recession, while others come at profitable companies that want to boost their profits even more. It all underscores the anarchy of capitalism, where capitalists produce goods and services to make a profit — not to satisfy the needs of the working class — while millions suffer from joblessness and privation.

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Bosses Fight for Share of Iran’s Auto Market

Competition for maximum profits is a law of capitalism. Capitalists fight to gain a profit advantage over their rivals, both within a country and between countries. Ultimately the fight between the two antagonistic classes — workers and bosses — is the main determinant of world events. However, currently — as CHALLENGE has correctly pointed out — due to the weakness of workers’ class struggle, and especially the absence of a mass communist-led working class, inter-imperialist rivalry has governed world affairs.
Inevitably the capitalists settle their differences by going to war, which occurred on a world scale twice between 1914 and 1945. What drives them to war is the competition in the economic sphere, for markets, resources and masses of cheap labor. Economic wars lead inevitably to shooting wars.

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PL College Conference: Youth Welcome ‘Rising Flames’ of Communist Ideas

BROOKLYN, November 9 — In 1968, guitar virtuoso and songwriter Jimi Hendrix wrote the line, “Look at the sky turn hellfire red…” He was referring to the rising flames of black workers’ rebellions in major U.S. cities after nonviolent struggle seemed futile.
In 2013, his words could easily describe the revolutionary excitement felt at the two-day Progressive Labor Party College Conference to Smash Imperialism. Some participants came from the rally against the repression of student fighters [see front page] and greeted communist ideas and practices as a welcome alternative to the fascism we experience daily on campus.

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Bolshevik Revolution: Shining Light for World’s Workers

November 7, 2013, was the 96th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. We should all celebrate it. That day the working class seized state power and kept it for decades. The Bolsheviks re-established the Communist International, or Comintern, which led the fight for freedom from imperialism and colonialism all over the world.
Where it did not lead this fight, the Bolshevik Revolution inspired and aided those who did. It became the greatest force for liberation in world history.

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Imperialist Rivals, Domestic Foes Rattle Racist U.S. Rulers

The U.S. ruling class needs a powerful military to carry out wars for maximum profit and control of resources and cheap labor. To that end it slaughters masses of workers and youth, from the Middle East to Bangladesh to Latin America. In particular, the military is essential to the bosses’ control of energy supplies, shipping routes, and pipelines. At stake is the rulers’ top-dog status over oil-hungry China, among others.
The Pentagon war machine must prepare for broader wars with its imperialist rivals even as it confronts the conflicts now erupting around the world. At the moment, the Middle East and South Asia are in disarray:

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Slam ROTC, Racist Petraeus: Students, Profs Rip U.S. War Machine

New York City, October 16 — Over 80 students and professors rallied in front of John Jay College, demanding that both David “Death Squad” Petraeus and ROTC be kicked out of CUNY, the city public university system. These students and professors are determined to not only throw the military off our campus, but to create an anti-imperialist movement within the CUNY system.

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BART Strikers Need Red Leadership

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, October 22 — Today, 2,400 Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train operators and station agents (Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555) and service workers (SEIU Local 1021), began returning to work, ending their four-day strike. This was the second walkout since June 30 when Governor Jerry Brown ordered a 60-day cooling-off period. The strike focused on wages, safety, seniority scheduling rights and preserving work rules. Union leaders ordered the strikers back to work before the rank-and-file knew what’s in the new contract.

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