Organize a Political Strike for Communism!
LOS ANGELES, US, June 18 âOur union contract expires at the end of this month,â said an MTA mechanic at a recent social gathering. âThe bus operators may opt for a strike,â he added.
âIf left up to the union it wonât be much of a strike. Theyâll have the usual picket lines with BBQ and beer,â interjected another.
âEvery time we go on strike we lose more than what we gain. Some workers think it is not worth it to go on strike,â said a third.
These comments started a very long and serious discussion.
First, we discussed that workers should not accept passively the capitalistsâ attacks or whatever they want to dish out in a contract. That would be surrendering without a fight. Everyone agreed that was unacceptable.
Workers just canât roll over and play dead. As communists, we all agree that our historical task as a class is to be the grave-diggers of capitalism. This requires a communist revolution. A revolution requires an inspired fighting working class.
Thus, the next question we addressed was: What should we workers fight for that will make our class conscious of its historical task? What can MTA workers fight for that will inspire millions to join ICWP and fight for communism worldwide?
âFighting for a âgoodâ contract wonât do it. Even if we got the best wage increase ever, at the end of the day we will still be wage slaves. We would still be under the despotic boot of the MTA bosses and the US capitalists in general.â Everyone agreed.
âWe need a political strike,â someone suggested, âWe and our class face more than just wage and benefit cuts. We face intensified racism, sexism and xenophobia with the rise of fascist groups like âAct for Americaâ and the prospect of bigger and more lethal wars, including world war.
âThat is why it must be a political strike against capitalism and for communism,â someone else suggested.
We then said that such a strike would reject trade unionismâs bankrupt political strategy. It would organize mass demonstrations of MTA workers to call on other workers, soldiers and youth, nationally and internationally, to join the fight for communism.
We would therefore put forward revolutionary communist political slogans such as âAbolish wage slavery, fight for communism! Fight for a world without money, exploitation, racism, sexism, nations or borders!â âProduction for need, not Profits!â âFight for communist workersâ power!â
Such a strike, closing down the USâ second largest city, would have an electrifying effect on the US and the worldâs working class. It would make a difference to the tens of millions of our class who are in motion, like those 180 million who went on strike in India or those 30 million in Brazilian.
These masses are questioning capitalism and looking for radical alternatives. Like many MTA workers, they are also realizing that trade unionsâ reformist struggles are dead-end streets which only prolong our enslavement.
Thousands of MTA operators, mechanics and service attendants led by ICWPâs MTA collectives and the hundreds of MTA Red Flag readers can energize a new communist-led labor movement that fights directly for communism to destroy capitalism, the root cause of all our problems.
Can we organize such a movement? Definitely! Not only we can but we must: the times demand nothing less from the most revolutionary and powerful class in history!
It wonât be easy and it wonât be done overnight. It will require patience and perseverance. We all agreed that winning for our class is how many more readers and distributers of Red Flag we gain, how many join ICWP and how massively and inspiring we make communism an issue among the masses.
Organizing for such a strike is mainly the responsibility of the ICWP collective at MTA and about 500 regular MTA Red Flag readers. Many of these have been readers for years. Some help distribute from one to five Red Flags. It is time they take the next step and join ICWP to help build ICWP collectives in all MTAâs divisions.
These ICWP collectives could massively increase the circulation of Red Flag by struggling politically with their MTA co-workers. This will create the material and ideological conditions to inspire MTA workers to organize such a political strike.
History is on our side. Letâs mobilize the masses for communism! Join ICWP!