Capitalist Negligence and Exploitation is āUnexcusedā
LOS ANGELES (USA)āāThereās no way I could have made it in to work during the fire. The cops gave us five minutes to evacuate. We had children with us and the fire was right across the street,ā said an MTA bus driver who got an āunexcused absenceā for missing work for two days during the Tick Fire.
Many workers at MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) couldnāt get to work during the October wildfires, including eighty drivers at one division alone. A major freeway and other roads were closed because driving was either impossible or very dangerous and unpredictable.
Management originally told workers that if they couldnāt get to work, they would still be paid for the day. But a few workers felt pressured to drive for hours and take serious risks to get to work. Then management wanted all the workers to do that. Absent workers lost pay after all. Their absences were āunexcusedā even when they called to report they couldnāt get to work.
Over six thousand fires ravaged California this season. They destroyed homes and air quality, killing three people and sickening many more.
This inferno is a product of capitalism.
Capitalist-caused climate change plays a big role in making fires deadlier and more widespread ā not just in California.Ā Ā In Australia, over 120 uncontrollable brushfires have ravaged huge areas and destroyed 300 homes. And itās not even summer there yet.
But the main problem is capitalismās social relations of production. Thatās obvious in the Amazon!
The few capitalists call the shots. We masses are their wage slaves. What counts for them is their profits, not our needs. Thatās why we need to mobilize for a communist system!
In California, many workers (not just rich people!) lost their homes. Sonoma County bosses forced farmworkers to pick grapes and other crops while breathing dangerous smoke and soot.
In Los Angeles and Santa Rosa, some employers ordered housekeepers and gardeners to report to work in mandatory evacuation zones. No labor laws protect them from that.
Imprisoned workers risked their lives to help fight the fires. They trained as firefighters, but earn only $1 an hour. The overcrowded prison systemās pool of $1 firefighters helps subsidize the utility companiesā lax maintenance.
California utility companies make huge profits from an old, outdated system. A broken jumper cable on a PG&E transmission tower probably caused the Kincade Fire, the company admitted on October 24. The Maria Fire in Santa Paula started 13 minutes after PG&E restored power there.
Would state ownership help the working class?
PG& E filed for bankruptcy in January, citing the huge fines they owed for causing previous fires. Liberal forces now call for the state to take over this huge utility. However, a state takeover would leave the taxpayers ā mostly workers ā liable for fines. Capitalism can only try to solve the crisis caused by its malfunctioning electric grid and the fires it sparks by passing the burdens and hardships to the masses.
Even more, the stateās job is to guarantee the capitalistsā profits. They care more about controlling the cost than controlling the flames. More destruction means higher costs to insurance companies and banks.
A public power company would still serve the bossesā needs to maximize profits. It would contract work to contractors who charge hefty fees to fix the power lines. These low-paying contractors will cut corners, risking workersā safety and lives.
A state-controlled electric company would be like MTA, a state-controlled transportation company. MTA gets workers to work on time for the bossesāfor as low wages as possible. If drivers stay home because of dangerous roads, other businesses lose money. The bosses wonāt admit it openly, but punishing the drivers shows how important they are to the system. During the last transit strike the bosses lost $100 million a day. It shows that no type of capitalismāstate or private owned, liberal or fascistā can meet workersā needs.
We need communist revolution to do away with production for profit, money, and the capitalist state. In communism, the collective knowledge and power of the working masses will mobilize to create safe energy and transportation. Communist masses can clear underbrush, put out fires, build underground electric cables, harness solar and wind energy, and avoid fossil fuels that cause global warming.
In communism, without bosses or wage slavery, no worker will have to take needless risks to keep a ājob.āĀ Ā Communist relations of production, not money, will guarantee the safety, health, and lives of all workers.
We call on all workers ā including MTA workers, farmworkers and prison slaves ā to join the International Communist Workersā Party.