"If someone told me 10 years ago I'd be going someplace for charity, I'd say 'no!' " Nicole Bouchotte, told the New York Times (11/23).
Ms. Bouchotte, 61, has been a school bus matron for Atlantic Bus Escorts Inc. for nearly 20 years. School bus matrons in New York care for 150,000 children bused daily to school. Working full time, they earn $28,000/year.
The company, however, has cut her hours and pay by more than 1/3, reducing her biweekly check to $410. Now she can't pay her rent. Swallowing her pride, she sought out Catholic Charities, which provided $442 to help with the rent.
In mid-November, Ms. Bouchotte received even more devastating news: the company is filing for bankruptcy. Her whole department will be let go at the end of the year.
The New York Times story ends by saying that although Ms. Bouchotte remains "unsure of her next move, her caseworker from Catholic Charities has been helping her explore career options." This article is currently posted at the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) website with no comment whatsoever.
There is nothing about inhumane capitalism, a racist system that destroys workers' lives for the profits of a handful of capitalists. There is nothing about these union hacks' complicity in helping the bus companies super-exploit these mostly black, latin and immigrant workers and then dump them on the streets like trash when no longer needed.
And of course, there is nothing about workers' urgent need to destroy this murderous system with communist revolution and build communism: a society based on producing for workers' needs, not for capitalists' profits.
These hacks' greatest treachery is preaching that capitalism is the best system ever, that it is eternal and that we must confine our struggles within its laws and electoral charade.

A tale of treachery
Ms. Bouchotte, among 8,800 drivers, mechanics and matrons in ATU Local 1181, went on strike early in 2013. They tried to stop Mayor Bloomberg from removing Employee Protection Provisions (EPP) from New York City's contract bids for school bus companies. These provisions required them to hire workers respecting their previous seniority, salaries and benefits.
Their efforts failed. After a month-long strike, the Local and International Presidents ordered them back to work. They told the workers to wait till January 2014 when Democrat Bill de Blasio might become Mayor.
De Blasio will be Mayor, and his promises will be worth nothing. Meanwhile, the city has signed new contracts without the job-security provisions for 1,100 routes. Some 1800 union workers have lost their jobs. Many more will be jobless, or working without seniority for less wages and benefits, when contracts for another 5,000 routes expire next year.

Capitalism: Workers are "Damned if we do, damned if we don't."
"Without this labor contract, we have no choice left but to proceed with the sale of all of the company's assets and contracts," said an Atlantic Bus spokesperson. The workers recently rejected its offer for a 2014 contract that would lower their wages and benefits.
The company claims 2,000 workers would lose their jobs because it can't compete with nonunion companies which can pay workers much less since the city removed the EPP from their bids.
This is capitalism's "freedom of choice" for the working class. We either accept cuts in compensation, as Ms. Bouchotte and others were forced to do, or be fired.
But, even this is not enough for the bosses. Companies like Atlantic can simply declare bankruptcy, or like Boeing, reopen contracts, to impose even more drastic conditions on workers with the blessings of the bosses' courts, media and politicians.

Trade unionism is no answer – Communism is!
We will be at the mercy of the capitalists' voracious appetite for maximum profits until we destroy capitalism with communist revolution. A militant reform struggle guarantees nothing. Working-class liberation requires getting off the treadmill of reformism. It requires organizing political strikes against capitalism that inspire and mobilize workers everywhere with communist political slogans like "Abolish wage slavery" and "Production for need, not profit."
It requires breaking the bosses' laws and, eventually, armed struggle.
It requires joining the International Communist Workers' Party.
For transit workers in Los Angeles MTA to prepare for a possible strike in 2014, it is important to learn the lessions of the struggle described here and choose the revolutionary alternative.

When G was asked if he wanted to join ICWP, his answer was an emphatic and certain "Yes. It's what we should all do, because separate we are weak while united we are strong. We have to fight and support Red Flag so that it continues to be our newspaper. Really, thank you, because due to Red Flag we are organizing the workers of different 'races'. Here is $25 as my first contribution." Continuing the process of spreading communist ideas massively and consolidating a base in the working class, breaking down the barriers that the bosses want to impose between black, latin, asian and white workers, we had decided before the meeting of MTA workers to invite them to join the Party.
Two other workers gave $25 each and two more promised to give $20 each next week. These achievements are the result of a revolutionary collective that put its confidence in the working class to be won directly to communist ideas. Through Red Flag, the working class masses understand that communist ideas represent their interests and that ICWP is their organization, their general staff.
The capitalist system cannot be reformed, since it is a society that feeds on the blood of our sons and daughters in the army as well as millions of workers, who, after spending their lives making profits for the bosses, end their lives without a home and without medical insurance.
We are certain that these new members will motivate other mechanics, service attendants, and drivers to join the Party. As the new comrade said, united we can achieve feats never before imagined.

The comrades who distribute Red Flag to Los Angeles transit workers at Division 3 want to thank the workers who brought us plates of delicious food from their Thanksgiving lunch celebration. We appreciated the refreshments and, even more, the solidarity. We also want to thank the bus operator there who, on another occasion, walked between a comrade and a transit cop who was harassing her and made a point of asking for a copy of Red Flag. In case that reader did not see the expression on the cop's face, we can tell him that the cop was clearly taken aback.
And we thank over 100 workers at Division 3 who take every issue of the paper, especially those who find a moment to stop, ask questions, and chat, and those who take extra papers for co-workers or their public. We would welcome the opportunity to talk with you at greater length in a more relaxed setting.
We extend this invitation to all Red Flag readers: If you choose a time and place convenient to you (and perhaps one or more others) and give us a call at (310) 487-7674 we will arrange for a couple of us to meet you there.
And if the workers at LA Transit Division 3 let us know in advance of their next lunch celebration, we will be happy to bring some food to contribute.

Happy Holidays to all!
—Three LA Comrades