Solidarity is Key to Replacing this Murderous System with Communism here ♦ How Much Human Life Went into Your Shirt? here ♦ Greetings and Thanks from Young Worker in El Salvador here ♦
“Raise the Red Flag against Capitalism, Fighting for Communism”
Solidarity is the Key to Replacing this Murderous System with Communism
I worked fifteen years in the factory. I was fired about a month ago. Seventy of us, men and women, were laid off.
The capitalist class put us in the street. The system of reforms is our enemy. You leave your whole life in the machines, already sick from so much exploitation. They fire us without caring at all.
I worked for many years in the maquilas suffering mistreatment and exploitation. We were treated like slaves. These companies didn’t even let us go to the bathroom. We had to eat in five minutes. Sometimes I didn’t even eat at all. All this caused my health to deteriorate. I got very sick. And now that I am sick, they fire me.
The same thing happened to many of my co-workers. When they got chronic illnesses, they were fired.
With our work, we made them millionaires. They set unattainable goals for us, making us leave later than the established time. Many times, they didn’t pay us.
We left our lives behind in the factories. We endured hunger. We drank contaminated water. When we asked for permission to go for a medical consultation, the supervisor threatened to put us on a list to be fired.
This letter, in addition to making the workers’ lives known, is also to thank the comrades of the International Communist Workers’ Party for your solidarity.
Solidarity in all its forms was key during the war. It is now and will continue to be as long as we have to struggle to change this rotten system.
Solidarity will be key in the future Communist system, whenever it is necessary. Collective life will be different from what we know today.
We have experienced the support of comrades in difficult moments of our life, and this is one of them. I am grateful for the help, on behalf of my family.
We will continue in the struggle with ICWP everywhere. Long live the International Communist Workers’ Party!
—Comrade Worker in El Salvador
How Much Human Life Went Into Your Shirt?
“It’s admirable to read about the struggle and commitment in the articles. That’s why I always look forward to each edition,” J commented. “Our discussions are always very interesting. I’m learning more about the struggles we have as a working class. Thank you for always sharing Red Flag with us.”
“I think that the front-page article about India in the last issue addressed a very important topic,” R added. “It got me thinking about the textile waste dump in the Atacama Desert in Chile that makes human life in the area impossible. It is an immense garment dump that has caused unprecedented environmental damage. It led to shocking questions: How much life does your shirt have? How many workers’ lives have been used up in making it?”
This forceful question led us to reflect that, for decades, the garment industry has been one of the main drivers of working-class exploitation, sexism, racism, wage slavery, and environmental pollution.
Capitalism bombards us commercially to expand its profits by manipulating the population to buy their products endlessly. All to continue enriching the garment bosses.
We must not forget that every stitch of clothing hides the lives of workers trapped in a ruthless industry. This is true whether in India, El Salvador, South Africa, or anywhere in the world where poverty wages are the norm.
That’s why we have to break these chains of slavery with a communist revolution. Only the working-class masses can achieve this.
Let’s mobilize ourselves on a war footing with the message that will be heard and spread: All power to the working class! That is why we will continue to read and share Red Flag and reach out to more comrades.
—Red Flag Readers in El Salvador
Greetings and Thanks from a Young Worker in El Salvador
I have been a member of ICWP for several years. I started going to meetings with my parents, who are workers. Then I started working and getting to know the life of wage slavery.
Just as the party says, we can build a different world for our class.
I worked for a year and a half. It took only a short time to realize that we sell our labor power to cover only part of our basic needs. On the other hand, the bosses take all the wealth we workers produce.
Today I am one of the laid-off workers. They told me, without explanation, that I was out of a job. They said that because the production for export was down, they would cut personnel. That when production goes up, they will call me. I think this is a lie.
In the Party I’ve realized how capitalism works. But the most important thing I have learned is that this can change. That with the organization of the workers and soldiers, we can achieve a system for the working class. That is the communist system.
I want to thank the comrades for the moral and economic support I’ve received.
And although for the moment I am no longer in the factory, I will be in contact with the comrades. I will continue to be active in ICWP and fight for a different world, Communism.
See you in Red Flag!
—Young laid-off worker
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