MTA Workers Demand on the-Job Safety, but Off Track with Anti-Rider Politics

BROOKLYN, May 18—Chanting, “Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Assaults have got to go!” over 50 MTA workers rallied and marched from the union hall across the Brooklyn Bridge to 2 Broadway (MTA headquarters) against the rising number of MTA workers being assaulted on the job.
The organizers who led the march are from one of the many MTA factions trying to fight for an active union to defend its membership. This non-union-led march brought together MTA workers from different titles (conductors, train operators, cleaners, bus drivers) to call on the union and MTA bosses to protect their workforce. Many workers and tourists along the march route chanted and cheered. Random yelling of  “MTA sucks!” and “No fare hikes!” and car honking in solidarity greeted the marchers.

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Carnage of Working Class in Syria

As ISIS loses ground and influence over eastern Syria, two larger, more lethal terrorist organizations—the U.S. and Russian capitalist ruling classes—are escalating their competition for control of this strategically vital area in the oil-rich Middle East. The inevitable result: more carnage for our working class sisters and brothers in Syria. From April 23 to May 23, more civilians were killed by U.S.-led airstrikes than in any other month so far in the six-year-old war, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (Independent, 5/23).

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Black & RED, Untold History part IV: THE HARLEM REBELLION

Ruling-class historians have segregated the fight against racism and the fight for an egalitarian system, communism. In reality, the two were connected like flesh and bone. Many antiracist struggles were led by, initiated by, or were fought with communists and communist-influenced organizations. Many Black fighters were also dedicated communists and pro-communists of their time.
In turn, the bosses have used anti-communism as a tool to terrorize and divide antiracist fightback. Regardless of communist affiliation, anyone who fought racism was at risk of being redbaited. Why? 1) The ruling class understands the natural relationship between antiracism and communism, and 2) Multiracial unity threatens the very racist system the bosses “work so hard” to maintain.
This series aims to reunite the history of communism with antiracism. Part I explored how the fight to free Scottsboro Boys was ignited by the International Labor Defense of the Communist Party. See Robin D.G. Kelley’s book Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression to find out more.
Part II explored how the international communist movement was the imeptus of the civil rights movement. It excerpts from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in the essay, “The Civil Rights Movement” by researcher Davarian L. Baldwin at Trinity College. Part III covered the class contradictions of Martin Luther King, Jr., influenced by the Communist Party.  
Part IV takes a look at the Harlem Rebellion and its communist influence.

The Harlem Rebellion of 1964 shook the United States bosses and resonated around the world as the struggle against racism expanded from the fight against Jim Crow in the South to the cities of the North. Once again the communist movement helped lead and was deeply influenced by the fight against racism in the U.S.
The rebellion, sparked by the police killing a young Black man in cold blood, occurred at a moment when the working class around the world was rising up, led by the communist movement centered around the Chinese Communist Party. The fledgling Progressive Labor Movement born out of the rise of the working class in China, was also shaped by the Harlem Rebellion.

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Pakistan: Growing Chinese Imperialism Means More Misery for Millions of Workers

PAKISTAN—The working class continues to be exploited viciously by the capitalist class here in Pakistan, and by growing Chinese imperialism. To divide the masses in the name of different nationalities, religion, religious sects and build allegiances to one or another celebrity political personality, the capitalist bosses shout over each other over minor issues to hide their unity with their brutal system.
This vicious exploitation goes hand-in-hand with the increasing importance of the working class of Pakistan’s labor to Chinese imperialism. In the midst of the sharpening attacks on the working class and sharpening inter-imperialist rivalry between the United States and China, the Progressive Labor Party here is growing too!

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Chicago Summer Project: Abolish Racism

As Progressive Labor Party prepares for our 2017 Summer Project in Chicago, the city’s working class is under intense attack. Decades of rule by the “lesser-evil” Democratic politicians have done nothing but make the political, social, and economic life of workers more unbearable, as shown by unprecedented numbers of Black families leaving the city (WGN, 6/22).
As always with capitalism, racist and sexist attacks are the tip of the spear in the drive to bring down the living conditions of all workers. More than ever, workers in Chicago and everywhere need PLP’s communist politics and organization as the only permanent path out of capitalism’s destruction and towards a working-class egalitarian world that meets our needs.

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Pride Parade: Surge of Class Anger, Must Reject Liberal Politics

LOS ANGELES—Over 100,000 workers came out to show their support for the LGBTQ members of our class and all workers facing repression. In the past, LA Pride has hosted a parade and street fair in West Hollywood.
A local congregation with Progressive Labor Party members has marched in the parade with banners and signs proclaiming our church’s long history of performing gay marriages and supporting LGBTQ rights.
This year, in this period of heightened sexism and racism, especially towards immigrant and Muslim workers, the organizers announced that there would be a #Resist March for “human rights” instead.
We in PLP understand that there can be no rights for the working class under capitalism but applaud the efforts to broaden this struggle.

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‘People’s Summit’—Sanders Faction Exploits Workers’ Anger

CHICAGO, June 11—Bernie Sanders’s second People’s Summit attempted to draw in and mislead 4,000 progressive-minded people. Much like UK’s Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, this faction of the Democratic Party aims to build liberal fascism with the backing of young people.

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Qatar and Inter-Imperialist Rivalry: A Widening Gulf

Disarray in the U.S. ruling class is creating more instability worldwide. On June 5, two weeks after President Donald Trump was feted by state terrorist Saudi rulers, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and four other Middle Eastern countries (Libya, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain) cut all ties with the tiny island nation of Qatar.
A flare-up between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, both crucial to U.S. imperialism, can only make the region even more volatile. But the brunt of the Saudi coalition’s blockade will fall on the backs of the Qatari working class.
The Saudi rulers have charged that Qatar funds extremist Islamic groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood—and, most damning, because it’s too cozy with Saudi Arabia’s main regional rival, Iran. The hypocrisy of bosses the world over knows no limits. Capitalist-run Qatar attacks workers on a daily basis. So do all of the country’s accusers. And so does the United States, most monstrously of all. Collectively, these capitalist bosses have the blood of our class on their hands.

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Disarray in UK: On Road to Fascism

An army of “homeless people” is stationed across British cities, armed with Heckler and Koch MP7 rifles.  
The British Army’s Special Air Service troops have been deployed as part of a new strategy against terror attacks.
Over the past three months, the working class of the United Kingdom has suffered three terrorist attacks, two in London and one in Manchester. For the bosses, these events have underscored the bosses’ debate over which brand of fascism will rule Britain. On June 8, when Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party made a surprisingly strong election showing against the ruling Conservatives, the disagreement got even sharper.

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Protesters Confront ACT for America: Death to Fascism

CHICAGO, June 10—The fascist group “ACT for America” attempted to hold a rally in Chicago to spread racist anti-Muslim hate speech today, and to provoke anti-immigrant hatred under the disguise of protesting so-called “Sharia [Muslim] Law.” Unfortunately for these neo-Nazis, they were outnumbered two to one, and directly confronted by a counter-protest led by Progressive Labor Party members and friends who chanted “Death, death, death, to the fascists! Power, power, power to the workers!”
PLP Sets The Tone: Smash Fascism!
At their racist debut in Chicago, despite their absurd costumes, motley signs, and flag waving, there was nothing funny about these white nationalist proto-Nazis and their racist message. Through their rhetoric, they try to demonize Muslims to set the stage for racist attacks.
Police separated the two groups, allowing the ACT fascists to set up on one street corner unrestricted, while surrounding anti-racist protesters across the street with police and barricades. Our PLP contingent and friends immediately made a plan to cross the street and confront the fascists, while selling CHALLENGE and asking other anti-racists to join us.

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