Two issues ago, Red Flag condemned the California Employment Development Department, the MTA Board of Directors and the treacherous UNION officials of the UTU– for the unjustifiable murder of fired MTA driver Alberto. His suicide note proved how capitalism is a murderous system.
In 1913, on the eve of World War I, when faced with a similar situation, Russian workers responded with a massive political strike that inspired hundreds of thousands of other workers, and helped to hasten the communist-led revolution of 1917. We can still learn from and be inspired by it.

Unable to Bear the Shame of Being Branded a Thief, a Humble Worker Commits Suicide
Jacob Strongin, a machinist at the New Lessner factory in St. Petersburg, was given several hundred special screw nuts on which to cut threads. In the process a few were lost. The foreman accused him of stealing them and threatened to fire him, branding him a thief, if he didn’t return them in two days.
The worker stayed after hours looking for the nuts but couldn’t find them. Early the next morning he was found hanged. As the news spread through the factory, all the workers left their workplaces and gathered around the dead body. While searching the body, the police found a letter in one of his pockets. The infuriated workers forced management to read it. It said:
“Comrades: The foreman accuses me of theft. Before I finish with my life, I want to tell you this, comrades, I am innocent. This is vouched for by my conscience, my heart, my worker’s honesty, but I cannot prove it. I cannot leave the factory,
branded as a thief by the foreman, so I have decided to end it all.... Good-bye, dear comrades and remember – I am innocent. Jacob Strongin.” On hearing this, the workers demanded that the foreman responsible for Strongin’s death be fired. Management refused. The workers downed their tools and decided to strike until the murderer was removed from the factory. They and thousands of workers from other factories in St. Petersburg went to Strongin’s funeral.
The company responded to the strike by firing all the workers. It placed ads in newspapers for strikebreakers, but no workers responded. Management then tried sending the company’s work to be done at other factories. But the strikers appealed to all metal workers to boycott all such work and these workers responded unanimously. Soon, the workers at the other Lessner factory struck in support.
The strike became famous throughout Russia and workers sent contributions to its strike fund from places as far as Siberia. The strike lasted 102 days. The workers, however, eventually returned to work.
Nevertheless, the strike was of enormous significance in the history of the Russian working-class movement. It was a major political strike: the workers raised no economic demands. Their only demand was the dismissal of the murderous foreman. As such, it helped create the subjective conditions that four years later would see the Russian working class taking state power for socialism.

We Need Communism Not Socialism or Any Other Kind of Capitalism
Socialism turned out to be state capitalism, with all the inherent horrors of free-market
capitalism. Since they fought for socialism, Russian communists did not make it a strike for communism. Dismissal of the foreman would still leave capitalism intact. A communist strike would have called for the destruction of capitalism, its private property, its money and its wage slavery together with all foremen and the bosses, the biggest thieves in history.
In a communist world, we will produce and share the fruits of our labor according to need. No one will ever be called a thief, much less hounded to death over things that our labor power can easily replace.
Communism will integrate production and education to develop collectively the social relations that will guarantee we treat one another with respect, dignity and appreciation.

Responding to Alberto’s Murder, Red Flag Should Have Called for a Political Strike against Capitalism
We did call on workers to avenge Alberto’s murder by joining ICWP and spreading Red Flag. However, self critically, we should have also suggested public actions against capitalism like a political strike, a work stoppage of hours or minutes, lunch-time meetings or the wearing of arm bands to show anger and contempt for this murderous system.
This showed some lack of confidence in the working class. Our responsibility is to call on workers to take the most advanced political action possible. The times and the needs of our class demand no less.

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“Let’s Face the Company Together”

In the upcoming month, MTA is going to TEST those of us who have tattoos. A lot of us were hired years ago with TATTOOS already. How is it that now our tattoos endanger the safety of our passengers?
They want us to cover them up, or remove them, and yet they will NOT reimburse us. “Yes,” management says because of their religion. They say if we have religious tattoos, then we should go through the process and let Gate Way (main office) decide. So now, they are EXPERTS on, or will they just follow legal procedures and at the end rule against us? I do not remember seeing on my job application any questions about my religion or being told anything about my tattoos when I was hired, years ago.
I would agree if we had tattoos that were degrading, defacing, vulgar, or obscene.
They say it affects our driving. I have never gone sick, I have never been on the sick list nor have I gotten workman’s comp because of a tattoo. I have gotten so many compliments and it makes me proud. I feel that this is just harassment. When will it stop and what is next? Will they tell us about our facial hair? So when will it end… when?
I know ALL of us who have tattoos are going to face a rough time ahead. Do we give in or do we stand for what we had on when we were hired? But I encourage ALL operators, full and part time, to stand together and let’s face the company together.
—MTA bus operator