A few weeks ago an incident occurred in one of the mechanic shops at MTA. It happened during the morning hours, after the acting lead-man had already given out the work assignments to the rest of the workers. The lead-man asked a woman mechanic, who he had assigned to change a differential, if she had ordered the differential. She answered that there weren't any in the warehouse. "How do you know?" he asked her. She answered that the mechanic from the night shift had told her that there weren't any in reserve. So the lead man answered that she should have gone to ask in the warehouse and not depended on others Then he called her over to him with a movement of his index finger, apparently in an arrogant and very irritated way. Since she didn't respond to his call, he walked over to her, grabbed her by her shirt collar and shook her hard. Another worker who was there protested this act, asking, "What's going on? Why did you act like that?" So the lead man walked over to this worker and also grabbed his shirt, but this time his attitude had changed, pretending that it was all a joke, according to eyewitnesses.
The incident was denounced to the company. The lead man was suspended for a few days, accused of "horseplay." When he returned, he apologized to some of the workers, but other workers refused to accept his apology.
A worker called a meeting with the company and the union to discuss the problem. The union and the company, with an anti-worker attitude, said that we should forget about this, and get on with our lives and that they would come up with the solution. Many workers disagreed with this, because this kind of incident is part of our daily life and they believe that it is the workers who must take the necessary measures.
In the shop, many workers who are Red Flag readers sought out comrades from ICWP to discuss the problem and find a solution. Some asked if the newspaper would say something about the incident. In one of the discussions it was said that the actions of the acting lead man reflect capitalist attitudes and ideas and show the need to mobilize the masses to a communist vision of the world.
In a communist society, when the workers have state power, the masses will mobilize to deal with these kinds of sexist, anti-worker attacks, first with words and, if this isn't enough, then with actions. Today we must mobilize the masses to the extent that we can.
Obviously this incident has sparked a series of discussions and political questions: How to make the acting lead-man or any other see that attacking a woman or man worker is an attack on all workers, and that if he continues with this attitude we will take our own measures against them? How should we workers deal with these kinds of acts and what should be a political working-class solution to these kinds of problems? In fact, there are many similar problems in different divisions like racist attitudes, sexist harassment and the harassment of workers.
On the other hand, the majority of mechanics do not ask that he be fired, but that he be transferred to another division, because the accused worker, according to some, has a history of similar incidents or having an unfriendly attitude to coworkers. They are sure that it's a matter of time before such an incident re-occurs. Obviously, transferring or sending the problem to another division isn't a real solution.
In this division we already have some experiences of workers who were sent here and we all know that the problem remains the same. In this context, the best solution is a permanent communist political struggle, not only with the problematic workers, but with all of us so that we can increase our consciousness and understanding of our true role in society, what our interests are, and what we need to provide solutions to the problems presented to us.
As the working class, we need a communist political party like ICWP, in which we can discuss and find solutions to the problems that afflict us. Because it is not about fighting among ourselves, or dividing ourselves by "races" or countries, but instead uniting for a common goal, the conquest of a new communist society where there is no room for sexism, racism, nationalism, and all the evils that come with decadent capitalist society.