Communist Ideas Must Become Mass Ideas here ♦ Our Problem Is Capitalist Wage Slavery here ♦
Communist Ideas Must Become Mass Ideas
LOS ANGELES (USA), October 25— “A recent confrontation between workers and supervisors of the MTA (public transit) impressed me very much. It has given me more confidence that we can win the working class to fight for communism,” commented a comrade mechanic.
There is a meeting every morning at his workplace. All the mechanics, service attendants, supervisors, and occasionally the managers, participate. His section is multi-racial, with Latinx, Black, Asian, and white workers. He told this story:
There has always been a struggle between the supervisors and the mechanics. In one meeting, some supervisors began to say that we should do more work since we are not doing enough, that we can do much more. They said that during breaks we take more time than allowed, that we should not take advantage of the breaks.
Then they said that we should not use our cell phones during work time. They claimed that many mechanics are refusing to do the work that is assigned to them and that they are going to start to control all this and will start giving warning notes of bad behavior.
Some workers said, “You supervisors are always talking on your cell phones.”
They answered, “We have permission. You do not.”
All the workers started to laugh, and this made the supervisors angry. A mechanic said, “If you want us not to use our cell phones, you should set an example.”
All the mechanics and the others around us started laughing in a way the supervisors considered disrespectful. They got even angrier and said, “Keep laughing and you will see. If we catch any of you sitting down or on the cell phone, we are going to give you a warning and you will be disciplined.”
This made all of us who were there laugh even more. Some began to make fun of the supervisors, saying we do enough and do our assigned work. And all the workers started to get closer to them and the supervisors felt more afraid and frustrated and they backed into the office and closed the doors.
All of us stayed there and some mechanics started saying, “Maybe they were afraid, they thought we were going to lynch them or something.”
“I realized that the truth is that we workers have the power. All of us united are the majority and the truth is that the bosses’ control everything because we are not united, but this action shows the strength that the working class has,” said a mechanic.
In this MTA division, several workers read Red Flag and are ICWP members. There are good possibilities of advancing the communist work here and in other divisions where many workers have read Red Flag loyally for years.
They see us with respect and seriousness. Many spread communist ideas by taking an additional paper for a co-worker, friend or relative.
Recently, a comrade distributing the paper asked a Black driver at a different division if she wanted one extra paper. She responded, “Can I have four?” Of course! The comrade said, “You and any other worker can have as many as needed.”
Contact ICWP if you want more copies of Red Flag to circulate!
Our Problem Is Capitalist Wage Slavery
Capitalism is a great con game. Let us not talk about conspiracies. Regardless of all the atrocities committed to get us where we are, our official leaders do not care to even demonstrate that they have our welfare in mind. Selfishness is the norm nowadays.
Healthy food costs more than junk food? A selected few individuals (electoral college) elect the president, not millions of citizens?
Capitalism has succeeded in turning us, the working class, into consumerists. That ends up turning us into work-slaves. It has turned society into thinking and acting with individualism instead of the natural human collectivism. It has the nice premise that if you work hard, be smart or educate yourself, you will get ahead in life. Yet, the working class is just surviving and a lot of us cannot handle the rat race anymore.
As humans we have basic “needs,” yet capitalism is about “wants.” Most adults realize too late in life that having enslaved their lives and health for money was not worth it and they regret it.
MTA is modeling capitalism’s tactics. All the rules on the book benefit MTA. This creates a hostile work environment. Works the bus operator to death. In case you hope to make it to retirement, just in case you make it, you will not be able to retire because you will not have benefits. I suggest that MTA operators get ahold of the union’s contract or download it from the Internet. They should also save up to prepare for the next strike.
The problem is capitalism, and the question of slave work remains unresolved. But for them to visualize something bigger, they would have to accomplish something together to be able to develop the confidence in themselves.
—Retired MTA Bus Operator in Los Angeles (USA)