to a Wide Range of Global Political Battles

 

The global industrial crisis is upon us. How does this crisis translate into communist political struggle in the factories? The answer will help us recruit communist fighters.

The answer is not obvious. It requires mobilizing for communism around all the political issues of our time.

The crisis is already causing layoffs, unemployment, wage cuts and speed-up. This economic devastation will not spontaneously drive workers towards communism and into our party. Nor are these attacks the most likely to draw masses into communist political struggle. Recruitment is a multi-faceted political process, not just one that starts with economic attacks.

The crisis makes the struggle over the whole range of capitalist ideology and political life much sharper and more immediate: in the factories as well as throughout society.

For example, it was revealed last week that Boeing conspired with the Federal Aviation Agency to ignore established safety regulations during the certification of the MAX. Then they conspired to cover it up.

Now, everybody’s worried about layoffs. But when Susan approached a comrade about the week’s revelations, the discussion quickly turned to communism.

Why? She first got active with the party around the issue of migration. She read the party’s pamphlet and gave it to her friend. She agreed we were facing fascism, as stated in the pamphlet, but she was leery about the proposed communist solutions.

All this took place as dozens circulated the party’s migration pamphlet within the plants and at various demonstrations. One distributed more than a hundred at May Day and then joined the party. Another friend recruited the help of local students to massively distribute pamphlets (and Red Flag) at three high schools. On the shop floor, comrades and friends have organized debates on these subjects involving hundreds.

Events throughout the world have since driven Susan to the conclusion that “this system is not working. We need something else.” Many of these attacks did not originate in the factory. The political struggle around our communist solutions in the migration pamphlet opened her eyes. The crisis, within society as a whole as well as her job, is forcing her to consider communism in a new light.

What motivates Susan, and many like her in factories around the world, encompasses all the manifestations of intensifying political struggle. Our industrial comrades must respond to all manner of political upheaval whether it originates in the plants or not.

One day we fight against racist or sexist attacks in the plant. The next day we lead workers to bring our communist message to a demonstration against the separations of families at the border. The day after we confront xenophobes that try to blame the MAX crashes on pilots from Africa and Asia.

There was a time at Boeing where comrades were told that the most important thing was to organize mass picket lines around the economic demands of a strike. Organizing meetings to discuss communism during the strike was considered secondary, even a diversion. That is the opposite of what we try do today. Self critically, we should do more of it.

We will share our experiences to date in the world’s industrial factories at our 10th anniversary conferences. We will make plans to increase the all-around political struggle everywhere.

Red Flag will help us share our progress bringing communist solutions to every fight. It should be a tribune of the masses, advocating communism and recruitment to ICWP in a wide range of political battles. In this way, we will turn industrial crisis into growth of the party.

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