South Africa: Establishing New ICWP Collectives here ♦ El Salvador: Factory Workers Mobilize for Communism here ♦ Revolutionary Greetings here ♦
South Africa: Establishing New ICWP Collectives
GQBERHA (South Africa), May 28— We had a very successful meeting last Saturday. It took a lot of preparation beforehand. As we mobilize the masses, we need to also establish a solid base.
We have had a stable, consistent collective in one neighbourhood. Now we are struggling to re-establish collectives in two others. Saturday’s successful meeting was to kick off the collective in a second neighbourhood. We are moving on to a third neighbourhood as well.
On Friday before the meeting, we went around the neighbourhood visiting different people. Some were friends of the party. Some have read Red Flag before. Some came, some didn’t. We were encouraged both by the people who came and the response of those who couldn’t but who promised to come for future meetings.
This is the culmination of discussions about the need to re-establish more collectives. This requires us going door to door, giving out Red Flag and inviting people to come. Saturday’s attendance shows that what we do really matters.
Our strategy is to build solid bases that will lead the party’s work of mobilizing the industrial base for communism, including soldiers. We’ve made significant progress.
This week we are planning to do the same thing in another neighbourhood where another comrade will start a collective. She can’t do it alone. The collective will help her. The growth of the party depends on what we do.
Sometimes when people see a meeting with 15 or 20 people, they don’t know the amount of work the comrades in the collective have done to make that happen. Or the amount of struggle to maintain and expand that number.
When you build a house, you can’t start with the roof. You have to start by establishing a solid foundation so that it can withstand the weight of the walls and of the roof. If the foundation is not solid, the house will collapse.
This means that we need to wage an ideological struggle with the comrades. We also have to understand each comrade’s internal contradictions. That’s how we can struggle better with different comrades. It’s really important to establish unity with comrades so we can struggle with each other. At the same time, the struggle has to be primary, unity secondary.
We have done some really promising work. Of course, there’s a lot that needs to be done, but, as a collective, we can accomplish it.
At last Saturday’s meeting, comrades came from different backgrounds, including some who have worked for years and know the exploitative nature of capitalism.
Most of the discussion was about how life would be in communism. How would ICWP lead society into a cashless, borderless one without exploitation? Comrades gave different examples. It was also important for us not to over-prescribe, especially for new comrades, what needs to be done. It was better to listen to what they think is best. Then that would be the main basis for discussion and struggle.
Someone mentioned the barter system. Of course it may sound interesting, but if I have nothing to exchange, what will I eat? Or if I decided to hoard, what would that do to the collective?
We explained how communism will distribute resources according to need, and how people will contribute to communism based on their ability and commitment.
We touched on the healthcare system in capitalism. Most things we consume make us sick, but the bosses sell them to us because they are profitable. Then the bosses profit from us being sick through health insurance, hospital bills and medicine. Even when we die, they profit from funerals.
In communism, we won’t focus mainly on having state-of-the-art hospitals. Yes, we will have them. But the emphasis will be on healthy living, making sure that people have quality food to eat that doesn’t make them sick like now.
They were pretty receptive to our ideas. It was a good discussion. As we hold more meetings, we will have more good discussions. It was a good first step in trying to establish a stable collective in this neighborhood.
Now we will focus on another neighborhood. That will present us with other challenges moving forward that we will figure out.
May Day and Beyond: Factory Workers Mobilize for Communism
EL SALVADOR, June 16— “I feel very glad to have participated for the first time in the May Day march with ICWP, together with my young son who helped me hand out Red Flag,” said a young worker. “My partner could not come because of work. He is also part of ICWP. It was a very rewarding experience because many young people came over to us to ask for more newspapers.”
“This activity also serves for our children to learn why we fight, since they are also enslaved. They are left alone while we work for a miserable wage in this exploitative system,” she continued.
The May Day march motivated the workers to continue to be part of the International Communist Workers’ Party. “We have to step forward in the communist struggle,” one worker said.
Communist ideas are spreading among many workers in the factory and encouraging other workers who marched for the first time to be part of this struggle for Communism.
This mobilization is part of the political work we do, distributing our Red Flag newspaper to thousands of workers and being well received by them. Many were asking for more Red Flag newspapers to share with family and friends.
We have a clear objective for participating in these mass activities. That is to massify communist ideas and the recruitment of industrial workers who are key to ICWP’s communist revolution.
The participation of city workers, farmworkers, students, and health workers from different areas of the country was very significant. Our contingent had a colorful lead banner, “FROM GAZA TO EL SALVADOR, LET’S FIGHT FOR A COMMUNIST SOCIETY.” Our red flags and posters denouncing the genocide in Gaza made the difference in the march of thousands of workers through the main streets of the capital.
The comrades coming from other areas of the country faced the fascist military encirclement that tried to stop the participation of the workers in this working-class demonstration. But with their experience, these comrades managed to reach the meeting point.
At the end of this collective action, carried out with great enthusiasm and commitment, we had a get-together with all those attending the march to strengthen our communist relations. The mobilization of the factory comrades to this activity always has an impact on the rest of the workers. It demonstrates the commitment to communist struggle of the members of ICWP with the working class.
We have upcoming meetings with the contacts that we made. We have also integrated a new collective in another area, and we are planning political schools with young workers. They are the ones who will continue the political organizational work of ICWP.
ICWP’s participation in the recruitment of soldiers is still a pending step. A comrade in another country pointed out to us, “Soldiers are sons and daughters of workers. They live in the same communities as maquila workers. We must reach out to them.”
Revolutionary Greetings from El Salvador
First, I am a member of the International Communist Workers Party. I am a health worker. I have never been a sympathizer of right-wing parties. Ever since I can remember, I have had left-wing ideas— now specifically for Communism.
I have read Red Flag for a long time, and now I meet with the collective of the city where I live. Although we are few right now, we are going to work to get more members to fight for Communism.
I also want to tell you that I have been participating in the May Day march with ICWP for several years. This year it was very impressive how we were able to capture the attention of the people watching from the sidewalks. So was the sympathy of members of the different participating unions towards our ICWP contingent.
The response of the people who received the Red Flag newspaper was also very gratifying. Several did not wait to be offered it. Instead, they approached us and asked, “Please give me one.” They were glad to receive it.
We were very well observed in a positive way that provoked a lot of satisfaction and enthusiasm to move forward. However, we had some weaknesses, such as the lack of sound to make the slogans heard a little more. I think that for next year we could have a mobile sound system, and more posters with the different messages to the population about the communist struggle. Perhaps we could involve other comrades or delegate the work to other members to continue with and expand on the success of this May Day 2024.
Comradely hugs and a push for us to go forward in the struggle towards the victory of communism.
—Comrade Health worker in El Salvador