Garment Workers Want a World Without Borders here ♦ Collective Action Defeats Fear here ♦
Garment Workers Want a World Without Borders
LOS ANGELES (USA), June 23— Masses have responded bravely to the reign of terror imposed by the Trump administration. Student walkouts, highway and street takeovers, mass demonstrations, and other forms of resistance. The organization of self-defense groups, mutual aid, and neighborhood patrols. Many have shown an astonishing and necessary level of fearlessness.
Comrades continue to raise communist ideas, concentrating on factory workers.
“We are here with Red Flag, a communist newspaper written by and for workers. It explains how we can have a world without borders,” a comrade told a garment worker coming out of the factory at the end of her shift.
“We all want a world without borders,” she responded.
“How beautiful it would be,” the comrade continued, “if all of us who want a world without borders would act to make it a reality.”
She nodded. “Yes, it would be very beautiful.” She took the newspaper.
That same hot afternoon, the same comrade started to explain Red Flag to another worker. “I read it,” she interrupted. “You guys used to go to American Apparel.”
The comrade was amazed. That factory had closed many years ago. “What do you think about all these raids?” he asked.
“It’s a complete injustice. We’re all very afraid to go out to work. Many aren’t showing up.”
“I’d like to interview you for Red Flag,” said the comrade. “What do you think?”
“Right now, I’m in a hurry, but yes, for sure, when you all come next time,” she replied.
An ICWP comrade who worked and organized in the garment industry for many years put it this way: “We workers are brave, but there are times when fear gets in the way. But in these moments of capitalist crisis, we will learn to see more of the urgency of organizing for a communist world, for a society without bosses and without borders. Our struggle for survival must be to organize for communist revolution.”
Fear is a tool used by the ruling class to maintain control and domination over us. Fearlessness arises as a response to the conditions of our oppression, as we begin to recognize our collective power and organize against our exploiters. Through struggle and solidarity, we workers can develop a sense of fearlessness. That allows us to challenge the dominant ideology and lays the foundation for a mass revolutionary communist movement.
A comrade in El Salvador saw images of ICWP’s participation in a demonstration. They said, “comrades, I know that each and every one of you out there, marching against the raids, does so with your heart on your sleeve. I deeply admire you. I realize the immense courage you have. It’s not easy to go out into the streets and raise your voices, especially when you’re facing such difficult and uncertain situations. I hope this becomes an example that together we can make a better world. Long live communism!”
To the garment worker who mentioned that we all want a world without borders, we say Yes! All the world’s workers want that. And as those who are not yet in the ICWP join, we are closer to putting an end to those borders and the very system that maintains them and causes the raids.
Letter: Collective Action Conquers Fear
“My daughters don’t want me to go to the march. They’re afraid, and I am too, a little. But I’m going to go, pick me up.” He is an undocumented immigrant. It was the June 14th march, and the police, the National Guard, and possibly immigration agents would be there. We didn’t know how many people would come. There was a lot of uncertainty.
“For the first time, my son wants to go to the march to protest against deportations and we are going to go together. See you there!” said a Red Flag reader. They are both citizens.
A woman grew up as a sympathizer, around ICWP, but not an activist. She called me and asked, “Is the party going to go to the march?”
I told her, “Yes, we’re going to be there.” She, her husband, and a sister came to our contingent with their own political signs, and a lot of emotion, showing their unhappiness with capitalism’s attacks on the working class.
A couple without legal documents, and their citizen son, very close to the ICWP, came to our group shouting loudly at the top of their lungs, “Workers’ Struggles Have No Borders, Power to the Workers!” We replied, “Power to the Workers!”
The anger of workers and young students is much greater than their fear. There is a lot of fear in the general atmosphere because of the thousands that have been deported and the violent attacks by the fascist repressive forces against those who have opposed the raids. But after each attack, thousands more come out.
These actions have given us more potential to sharpen the struggle with these youth and others so we can recruit them to the Party and the struggle for Communism.
At the march, thousands of people kept coming: white, Black, Latinx, Asian, and others. It was an atmosphere of protest. The undocumented comrade mentioned at the beginning handed out Red Flags to those thousands like hot cakes. He was part of the struggle for a Communist World without Borders.
Once again, the feeling of a communist world overcame the fear of fascist terror.
–Comrade in Los Angeles (USA)
Pamphlet: Fight for the Day When No Worker Will Be Called Foreigner here