What is the political road forward for workers in 2020
https://themilitant.com/2020/09/12/what-is-the-political-road-forward-for-workers-in-2020/
BY SETH GALINSKY
Vol. 84/No. 37
September 21, 2020
As the Democratic and Republican conventions began, most pundits thought
that Joe Biden was a shoo-in for president. They pointed to the
widespread layoffs, nationwide protests against police brutality and
ongoing coronavirus pandemic under President Donald Trump’s watch.
But Trump has been appealing to working people and presenting himself as
the “jobs” and “law and order” candidate. He paints the Democrats as
enablers of anarcho-radical destruction and looting who care little
about the effect on working people and small-business owners.
With two months to go to the vote, JP Morgan Chase and Las Vegas odds
makers say it’s a toss-up, with rising odds Trump will come out on top.
The fact is, neither Biden nor Trump have any solution for the biggest
problem facing working people — far-reaching unemployment.
The only voice for the working class in the 2020 elections is the
Socialist Workers Party campaign and its presidential ticket of Alyson
Kennedy and Malcolm Jarrett. The SWP is putting forward demands workers
can use to fight for a union movement in every workplace, to advance
their interests.
The party’s candidates call for the unions to fight for a
government-funded public works program to create millions of jobs at
union scale, building schools, hospitals and other things workers need.
They say we need to organize to cut the workweek with no cut in pay, to
prevent further layoffs.
The Republican National Convention, unlike the Democrats’ that showcased
politicians and performers, included workers, farmers and small-business
people. Alice Johnson — a Black woman who spent 25 years in jail for a
first-time drug offense until her sentence was commuted by Trump — was a
featured speaker. “There are thousands like me who deserve the
opportunity to come home,” she said.
Trump presents himself as a champion of working people. “A lot of
Republicans don’t want me to say that, but I’ll tell you unions are
fine,” Trump said at a rally held during the Democratic convention.
“What I talk about is the worker.”
Carnage facing workers continues
In 2016 Trump won support from many workers by highlighting the
“carnage,” from factory closings to drug addiction. Now, after four
years in the White House, he is trying to recapture some of that. He
claims that under his watch, “America’s unprecedented economic recovery
continues.”
In fact, the carnage will continue no matter which capitalist candidate
wins the November contest.
Today’s capitalist economic crisis, exacerbated by government-ordered
shutdowns on production and trade, takes a toll on working people.
Despite moratoriums in many states, more than 40,000 families have been
evicted since the start of the pandemic.
The official unemployment rate in August was 8.4%, down from 10.2% in
July. At the same time, millions are without work and many major
industries — from airlines to auto plants — are announcing layoffs. The
44-story, 478-room Hilton Times Square hotel announced it is permanently
closing. CNBC reports 34% of New York hotels are delinquent in paying
their bills. Amtrak announced that it is putting 2,000 rail workers on
furlough and plans to lay off as many as 20% of its workers next year.
During the Democrats’ convention and since, Biden makes opposition to
Trump the center of his campaign, shying away from talking about what he
is for. Trump takes advantage of this, saying Biden is just a front man
for radicals in the Democratic Party.
One of Biden’s central attacks on Trump is to blame him for the
government’s negligent response to COVID-19. But both parties’ response
to the pandemic has been anti-working-class.
At a Sept. 3 rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Trump pointed out that
thousands of senior citizens died in New York state because Democratic
Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered nursing homes to take in patients with the
virus. This was a death sentence for retirees.
The U.S. government sent a hospital ship to New York City with hundreds
of beds and set up a field hospital with 2,800 more at the peak of the
pandemic, Trump points out. Despite overwhelmed hospitals in the city,
those beds went largely unused.
Neither the Trump nor Biden campaigns say anything about the real
problem — the for-profit health care “system,” which assures
state-of-the-art treatment for the wealthy on private wards and
overcrowded, understaffed, ill-equipped public hospitals for working
people. That’s why there were not enough hospital beds or masks and
other protective equipment for health care workers. It’s why the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention continues to tell those who are ill
to stay home, unless they can’t breathe.
Biden refuses to say ‘antifa’
In an Aug. 31 speech in Pittsburgh, Biden finally said something about
wanton destruction in Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere, saying, “Looting
is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting.”
But he blamed the violence on Trump, never mentioning antifa and similar
middle-class radicals who have hijacked what started as mass political
protests against police brutality and turned them into small forays of
anti-political destruction.
The violence is spearheaded by mostly Caucasian, middle-class radicals
and antifa. They are aided by meritocratic Black Lives Matter leaders,
who think the violence will force the rulers to give them a seat at
their table.
Black Lives Matter leaders organize predominantly Caucasian marchers to
target Caucasian neighborhoods, shouting “Wake up motherf—-ers,”
demanding that the “white privileged” renounce their privilege and fork
over cash.
Trump wins a hearing when he says that the antifa-type violence is most
rampant in cities run by the Democratic Party. He points to Portland,
where the Democratic mayor — who had made excuses for the antifa
violence — fled his own home, after so-called protesters set fire to the
complex where he lived.
Biden’s supporters are nervous about how he’ll do in debates with Trump,
with some calling for him to refuse to participate.
The liberal media runs articles claiming Trump will refuse to leave the
White House, regardless of the outcome of the vote. David Brooks’ piece
in the Sept. 4 New York Times was headlined, “What Will You Do If Trump
Doesn’t Leave?” He says there’ll have to be a uprising.
The article could have been titled, “What Will You Do If the Democrats
Lose, but Refuse to Recognize the Results?”
Front Page Articles
Build a union movement in all plants, workplaces!
What is the political road forward for workers in 2020
Mine workers in Belarus say, Join protests against gov’t
Solidarity with Dominion grocery strike in Canada!
SWP campaigns to build workers’ fight for jobs, control over job safety
Join ‘Militant’ fight to overturn ban by Florida prison officials
Feature Articles
Violent course of antifa, Black Lives Matter threat to working class
Also In This Issue
Walmart workers donate ‘blood money’ bribes to build SWP
Turkish, Greek rulers’ rivalry heats up in the Mediterranean
Train deaths in Scotland show boss scorn for safety
Debate over road forward to win justice for Breonna Taylor
Mongolians protest Beijing attack on language rights
‘Cop killed Cesar Rodriguez for not paying $1.75 fare’
Free Ed Poindexter!
Books of the Month
1877 strike foretold growth of ‘serious workers party’ in US
25, 50 and 75 years ago
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Robert G. Ingersoll
“Progress is born of doubt and inquiry. The Church never doubts, never
inquires. To doubt is heresy, to inquire is to admit that you do not know—the
Church does neither.”
― Robert G. Ingersoll,
