FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
International Communist Workers Party
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FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM! |
International Communist Workers Party | |
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LOS ANGELES--A transit worker was talking with a Red Flag comrade at a transit division.
The driver said, “I really liked the article about the mechanic this week. It’s not only the mechanics. They treat drivers the same way. They constantly harass us; constantly find things to use against us.”
The Red Flag distributor said, “I’m glad you liked it.”
“One thing,” the driver continued, “is that they want us to call the fare out, to make people pay who don’t pay. But some of the passengers get mad and you never know what they’ll do. When passengers don’t pay the fare, MTA knows because they count how many passengers ride the bus and compare that to the money they collect.
“MTA raises the fares and makes the other passengers pay more. Really, most of the transit money comes from federal money, not from fares.”
Red Flag: Yes, the money comes from taxes all workers have to pay. Really, transit should be free for everyone. Everything should be free. For that to happen, we need a communist system where everyone will get what they need and there won’t be money or bosses who take it all for themselves.
Driver: Well, you know, I am against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
“Why?” asked another worker.
D: “Let’s say you own a business with 100 workers. Let’s say you pay them $9 an hour. Now the government says you have to pay $15 an hour. So you pay the workers more. And then what do you do? You raise the price of the things the workers make so that you can keep as much profit as before or even more profit. So we have to pay more for things if they raise the minimum wage.
RF: So even when we fight for higher wages, even when we get a little bit more, they raise the prices, like you say. Capitalism is set up to make money for the capitalists. Wages are meant to keep us working and chained to them. They just pay us barely enough (and often not enough) to survive and keep working, not enough so we can stop. The boss takes most of the value we produce for his own profit. That’s why we need to fight to get rid of the wage system, not for higher wages.
D: Even if they pay $15 minimum, that doesn’t mean that those of us who make a little more than the minimum will get a lot more. I think they want more people working for the minimum so the rich can keep more money. I guess its not that I’m against raising the minimum wage—it’s just that it won’t make things better”
RF: You’re right, it won’t solve the problem. The only way to get out of the vicious cycle is to get rid of the wage system with communist revolution and produce for human need. We can all work with no wages and no money. We can produce everything we need and share it. That’s communism.
The workers had to go in to work but hopefully the conversation will continue.
It will take a mass party to mobilize millions of workers for communist revolution for a world where we only work to fulfill our needs—with no money or wages. We invite these workers to join this fight.
