http://themilitant.com/2016/8022/802205.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 80/No. 22 June 6, 2016
(front page)
Socialist Workers Party campaigns among Minnesota workers, farmers
Militant/Dan Fein
Dick Fenner, left, who works for a dairy farmer, talks with SWP
campaigner Chris Hoeppner while waiting to deliver livestock outside
packinghouse in Long Prairie, Minnesota, May 23.
BY TONY LANE
MINNEAPOLIS — “None of these politicians come through with their
promises. We need to do something different to be heard,” Guadalupe
Pinto told Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate Alyson Kennedy
as she and supporters knocked on doors in Hutchinson, Minnesota, May 22.
“I would be happy to collaborate with you,” Pinto said, and took a
handful of petitions and campaign flyers to give to friends and for her
husband to take to work.
Two other workers who recently subscribed to the Militant took petitions
to circulate.
The need for working people to act in our own class interests and the
thirst for anything that can strengthen that fight was part of the
discussions with many workers that Socialist Workers Party members met.
“We all need to unite,” said Stephani Ayala, a former Teamsters member
in an engraving plant, as she signed the petition to put the SWP on the
ballot and got a subscription to the Militant. “Many workers don’t earn
a livable wage. Workers need the Socialist Workers Party.”
During the course of gathering several hundred signatures, SWP
campaigners won 31 new Militant subscribers and sold several books. At a
May 21 campaign meeting with Kennedy and David Rosenfeld, SWP candidate
for Congress, Kennedy talked about participation in a delegation to Cuba
with relatives of victims of police killings. “The Cubans we met were
shocked when we told them about police brutality under capitalism, and
we got a real glimpse of the social relations that exist when workers
and farmers make a revolution.”
Rosenfeld had been a panelist at a conference on Malcolm X earlier that
day where a debate began about whether Malcolm X’s legacy was relevant
only to African-Americans. “The Socialist Workers Party explains Malcolm
was a revolutionary leader of the working class,” Rosenfeld said. “He
transcended Black nationalism and sought to work with all who want to
end exploitation and oppression. He said he was trying to awaken Black
people to their worth. That message is vitally important to the working
class today.”
Dan Fein, SWP candidate for U.S. Senate in Illinois, joined others
talking with packinghouse workers in the parking lot outside Long
Prairie Packing plant in Long Prairie, 120 miles north of here. “I came
from Miami three weeks ago, when I heard there was hiring here,”
Raimundo Olvide told Fein. Several workers there signed the party
petitions.
Fein also talked with dairy farmers lined up to bring livestock in. They
are hard hit by low milk prices. Several have worked in factories to
augment their income.
“I work on a friend’s farm now,” Dick Fenner told Fein. “I worked as a
plumber and now I’m on Social Security. But after I pay the bills,
there’s nothing left, so I have to work part-time.
Kennedy was invited by supporters of the Socialist Workers Party
campaign to meet with 10 of their co-workers at Walmart May 23. Cashier
Mary Ellen Nelson told Kennedy she and her husband can’t afford the
company’s health plan, which has a $5,000 deductible. “We would be
paying off the deductible forever.”
Another worker said she was interested in Republican candidate Donald
Trump for his stand against illegal immigration. “I’m not against
immigration, but it has to be legal,” she said. “Those illegals are
getting all the money and the jobs.”
“The bosses pit us against each other competing for jobs,” Kennedy
replied. “They see immigrants as a source of cheap labor. We need to
build unity among workers, to fight for a massive government-funded jobs
program, for a $15 minimum wage and against all restrictions that
prevent one or another group of workers’ ability to find a job.” Eight
workers signed to put the SWP on the ballot.
To join in the ballot effort or contribute to the campaign, contact
party units listed on page 8 or Socialist Workers Party 2016 Campaign,
227 W. 29th St, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Tel (646) 922-8186.
Email: swp2016campaign@xxxxxxxxx .
Related articles:
As capitalist crisis deepens openings for SWP grow
Spring subscription drive April 2 - May 24 (Final)
Active Workers Conference
Socialist Workers Party candidate backs strike at Washington college
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