Letters of March 15

Fight back and crush the bosses’ traps

Wage theft in New York City, despite the existence of laws that “protect” the worker, is very much a common thing. We know about the law against wage theft, but it is increasingly difficult to find justice, since for any claim they divide the workers so that they make these actions only individually.
At the beginning of this month, a group of more than 40 workers from different community organizations met, marched and held a sit-in in front of a luxurious hotel, on 60th Street near Central Park. The action was taken because the hotel bosses fired, unfairly and without reason,and stole wages from a worker with many years of service. That worker had not been informed of her dismissal and she was not allowed to go into work when she had arrived to do so.

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Letters of August 3

Camacho’s legacy will live on
The Delano giant is gone. It is with deep sorrow in my heart that I received the news that one of the Farmworker Leaders from Delano, California died yesterday. Epifanio Camacho dedicated his life to fighting against the injustices of the ranchers to the undocumented farm workers. His non-pacifist struggle found an echo in the immigrants who suffered beatings and mistreatment at the hands of the police and immigration. Such was the importance of this charismatic fighter that his home became known as "The Sanctuary of Immigrants.”
Camacho will never die because his legacy will live on forever. There is not enough space to write about the fights he led, the attacks he received and his fascinating life. That is why I only say that from the lands of Sandino, we say goodbye to you with great respect, admiration, deep affection and sadness.

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Letters of July 20

Ecuador: strike vs. capitalist crisis
On June 13 here in Quito, Ecuador, a mobilization began towards the capital in response to the call of the Conaie Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CCINE) for a national strike against the neoliberal government of Guillermo Lasso. The strike and march on the capitol have been triggered by rising fuel prices and transportation costs, unemployment, massive layoffs, and budget cuts for health and education. Added to this is an escalation of violence by the uniformed officers towards the population, even going so far as to sign a cooperation agreement with the U.S. A bill presented in the United States Senate recently called again, “to Strengthen ties of the Association between the United States and Ecuador,” but with the U.S. in charge.

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Letters of July 6

Fired for being a good teacher
This letter is to support a fellow comrade. A wonderful, bilingual, antiracist, high school teacher who has just been fired, not for doing his job poorly, but for doing his job extremely well!
The conditions that he teaches in are deplorable, racist and dangerous - made even worse since Covid-19.
• The school is severely understaffed.
Since September his rosters have changed like a revolving door, making consistency difficult, but he worked to create continuity by making home visits to make sure his students were OK.
During the pandemic, this caring communist teacher - a resident of Newark, and an immigrant, ORGANIZED his co-worker

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Letters of June 22

Communist ideas have no borders
I am writing to you to share a reflection about an exchange that took place in the south of Mexico. Communist workers from the Progressive Labor Party who live there hosted a political event with others visiting from central Mexico and New Jersey. We are fortifying our political base with workers who are learning about our ideas and how we put them in practice in different parts of the world. Equally as important, our event gave these workers who are being exposed to

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Letters 5/25

A communist education
Sometimes, the Party’s ideas can reach people, and have a wonderful impact, in unexpected ways.
Three days ago, I participated in the PLP-organized May Day march in Brooklyn, New York. Then yesterday, I sent videos of the keynote speech to friends who didn’t make it to the march.
One friend, who now lives in another state, wrote back saying, “Thanks. I enjoyed that. It is a good reminder of the essence of community.”
Another friend, who is a teacher, sent this especially heart-warming note:
“Thank you for sharing this! She educated me soooooooo much just now! Some things I was aware of, but much of what she stated, I did not know! This is powerful! Do you mind if I share this with my students in class tomorrow?... I think it would be powerful to show this and discuss . . . and scrap what my original lesson was going to be.”

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Letters of March 30

From Rome to Russia: Bella Ciao
We are two members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) currently living in Rome, Italy.  The crisis in Ukraine (see editorial on page 2) has sparked many protests. The U.S. and European news media want workers to think that everyone in the so-called West is on board with NATO, U.S. imperialism, and Ukrainian nationalism. But across all the banners of the 50,000 demonstrators at the March 6 protest, we only saw two Ukrainian flags.

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Letters of April 14

Fighting LA’s racist housing crisis
On March 25, I attended a rally in support of homeless residents who were being “swept” and displaced from Echo Park, located in Los Angeles. The sweeps were conducted by city workers, backed up by a massive Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) presence. Hundreds of people, including neighborhood residents, protested and marched for hours to demand a stop to the sweeps and permanent housing for everyone. The LAPD penned in and arrested 182 people after they sat down in the street. Two news reporters were also charged and National Lawyers’ Guild legal observers were detained, before being released.
There are hundreds of homeless encampments across the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County. The 2020 official Point in Time Count for LA County (likely an undercount) was 66,436. Recently, the Los Angeles Times newspaper even compared LA to the encampments described in Grapes of Wrath, the John Steinbeck novel about the great migration from the “Dust Bowl” to California in the 1930s.

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Letters of March 31

‘Identity politics workshop: ‘very enlightening’
I have been interested in learning more about Progressive Labor Party and had heard from my friend that her sister is involved in a communist discussion group. I contacted her sister and she informed me of an education workshop that was taking place over zoom about communism in the classroom. I was intrigued, and decided to attend. I also just want to state that I am a queer, white woman and a recent STEM college graduate. Around 55 people attended the forum, which was surprising to me. An opening speech was given about how, through communism,U.S. workers can defeat capitalism and the  negative effects (racism, sexism, etc.) it has on our society.

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Letters of March 17

Meisha Porter, new face of liberal racism
Bad News! Meisha Porter has been appointed as the first Black woman to lead as NYC’s chancellor of the country’s largest public school system, effectively becoming the new face of liberal racism.
While Porter has been promoted as an antiracist Black woman leader, and champion for “equitable schools,” her history proves otherwise.

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