Smash Racism and Capitalism with Communist Revoultion

Over the last year there has been a great deal of talk in Washington about the need to grow the economy and create jobs.  From the discussion you would think everyone; Republicans and Democrats are in favor of programs to accomplish these goals.  There are constant cries from the pundits for more bipartisanship to accomplish these goals.  So why is nothing happening.

With 46.5 million people in poverty in the United States today and 42.5% of African American children under five in poverty, there is a crisis for working people.   With 2.3 million people in jail and 400,000 people being deported annually, poverty will continue to grow because their income is needed to keep their families out of poverty.

Since 2010, the recession has ended for the top 20% of the population as they have seen their incomes improve, for the rest, incomes have continued to fall, and there is no end in sight.

Nothing is being done about the situation except talk because the problem is the system of capitalism.  The capitalist control the politicians, the press, the educational system and they will not allow any serious challenges to their system from within these ranks.

If an alternative is to develop, it has to come from those who are exploited by the system, not those who benefit from it. 

Capitalism is a system based on the exploitation of labor.  It can take many forms but in essence it means the surplus value workers produce by their labor is taken by non-producers who hold power and used for their benefit.

The alternative to this is communism where workers produce what they need and distribute it among themselves to meet their needs.

Of course the capitalist say this cannot happen. They use racism and sexism to divide the working class.  They develop a culture which encourages individualism and greed to overcome workers need to help each other out.

We know it is possible to have a world where the needs of the world’s workers are met.  The capitalist stand in the way of reaching this goal.  We are building an organization, the Progressive Labor Party, to overcome the many obstacles the capitalist place in our way of building a word free of racism, sexism, nationalism and constant wars.  A world without money or a wage system, where people work for the common good and have their needs met.  We are building an international party, because conditions are even worse elsewhere in the world and we cannot do it alone.

We can learn a great deal from the working class movements of the 20^th century.  We can correct their mistakes and as Karl Marx said over 150 years ago, open a new era of human history. Join us in this effort.

Progressive Labor Party      www.plp.org          revolution500@gmail.com

Some Answers About 689's Pension Fund

The recent contract changes approved by the membership raised some questions about the Transit Employees’ Retirement Plan which need to be answered.  It has been widely applauded by Metro's Board of Directors and the Washington Post.  This alone should make members of ATU Local 689 skeptical.

The Plan was established in 1945 to provide pension benefits to members of Local 689.   The plan was funded by contributions from both employees and employer.  The employer put into the fund twice the amount of the employee for most of the period until 1983. The employees put in between 4% and 7% of wages, and the employer put in between 8% and 14% depending on the contract in effect.  In 1983, Metro management proposed that they assume the total cost of the pension if the union would take a wage freeze of one year. The wage increase which at that time was based on the inflation rate was estimated to be about 6.5%.

The union agreed and on July 1, 1983, Metro took responsibility for the funding of the pension plan.  Why did they propose this change?  Metro realized that if they changed the way the pension funds were invested, they could return greater yields and over time their costs would go down.  So the fund went from investing in mostly government bonds to a majority of its investments in the stock market.  The plan worked well for Metro.  In the 1989 contract, the minimum contribution required which was 11%, was eliminated from the contract.  By 1997, the investments had done so well, Metro’s contribution to the fund went to zero and stayed there until 2006.  The 2004 contract changed the method of calculating Metro’s contribution, and they were in the fall of 2006 required to begin contributing to the fund once more.  To get Metro to agree to change the method of calculating their contribution the union had to agree to a small wage increase of 1.5% instead of 3%. From 1983 to 2006, Metro saved hundreds of millions of dollars on pension contributions.  They never once complained about this.

In 2008, when the stock market crashed, they began complaining about their contribution.  At the same time they began demanding the employees start contributing to the plan.  They wanted the members to forget about the 6.5% and 1.5% wage increases they had given up in 1983 and 2004 were the members’ contribution to the plan and the millions of dollars Metro had saved in those years.  The sad part is the union leadership did forget.

In the course of discussing the new contract, many argued that it should be approved because the pension fund needs more money, and therefore the members should start contributing to guarantee the solvency of the fund in the future.  This issue was not a part of the contract changes.  The money contributed to the fund will remain unchanged.  What will happen is Metro’s contribution will decrease and the members will pick up the difference.

Our pension plan is a defined benefit plan.  That means the benefits are defined by our contract. The money for these benefits comes from a fund controlled by a six member committee of union officers and management people.  This committee invests the funds at a reasonable risk level and expecting reasonable return so that they can pay the pensions when due.  In 1983, Metro saw an advantage in assuming all the investment risk.  They made out like bandits for 25 years.  They are still way ahead in the game.

 

Metro has drawn blood in this contract.  It will wet their appetite for more next contract.  We need to get prepared.

A Strategy for Fighting Privatization

The threat of privatization is raising its ugly head again at Metro.  The DC government is considering turning over to the Circulator the local runs in DC that Metro currently operates.

If this plan is fully implemented, Local 689 could lose approximately 175 bus driving jobs over the next couple of years.  The threat of privatization is real and must be fought.

In the late 1990’s, the local governments and WMATA threatened to privatize the entire Metrobus system.  Local 689 and many riders fought back and as a result of this struggle and the fact that at the time there were no contractors who could handle the job, they backed down part way.

 

A regional Mobility Panel was established to resolve the issue.  In its final report the Panel broke Metrobus lines into two types, regional and local.  The regional lines were to continue to be operated by Metro, but the local lines could be turned over to private contractors by 2003. Except in DC, this plan was carried out. 

In Local 689, there was a disagreement as to how to fight this.  The Allen leadership advocated concessions to save jobs.  One EB member and many rank and file members advocated no concessions and a more militant fight.  The Allen leadership won out.  The starting salaries for bus drivers were reduced, an eight year progression to the base pay was established, and limits were placed on dental insurance for all and health benefits for new employees. A New Service Agreement which made even more concessions was negotiated.

The jobs that were gained (PRTC) or saved did not last long.  The private contractors lowered their wages even more, and we lost the PRTC service, and the local runs in the suburbs continued to be privatized.

Fast forward to 2013, and it is like the late 90’s over again.  The difference is that the contractors are now multi-national corporations and thus a bigger threat than before.  Metro is of course demanding concessions in our contract so that they can protect our jobs.

As a union we are faced with the same choices that we had 15 years ago, step up the struggle or make concessions.

The struggle will be more difficult this time because we made concessions in the past, the contractors are more powerful, we are a smaller percentage of the mass transit picture in the region, and the labor movement in general is weaker.

We can turn this around.  It means reaching out to the riding public and other unions in mass transit as well as unions in general to tell the bosses that we will shut this region down if privatization is not stopped.

Take the offensive! One wage and benefit package for all transit workers in the region. If we want other workers to support our fight we must support them.  Fight austerity and deportations!  Fight racism and mass incarceration!

March on May Day 2013 in DC

March On Mayday

On May 1, we will join with millions of workers from every continent and country for a Mayday March in an expression of international solidarity.

Mayday is an international working class holiday. It is a day on which the international working class reviews it forces as it prepares to do battle with the capitalist class.  For the last hundred years, the US bosses have tried to separate workers in this country from their brother and sisters around the world by celebrating Labor Day in September.  The time has come to end this division

.

Mayday has a long history.  It began as a commemoration of the Haymarket Massacre.  In 1886, a general strike was called by the unions in Chicago as part of the fight for the eight hour working day.  As a part of the day’s activities, a rally was held at Haymarket Square.  The police attacked the rally and several workers were killed as well as some police.  As a result, criminal charges were brought against the leadership of the unions in Chicago and four of them were hung.

In the 1930’s, workers marched on Mayday to fight the rise of fascism and to stop lynching in the US. On Mayday, 1945, the red flag of revolution was raised over the Reichstag in Berlin by soldiers signifying the defeat of fascism and the end of World War II in Europe.  In the late 1980’s millions of workers in South Africa marched on Mayday to help bring down the apartheid regime there.

The struggle continues today as we march:

To Smash Racist Unemployment – 26 million people are out of work or underemployed in the United States, and 200 million in the world. Jobs for all.

To Stop Deportations – In 2010, over 400,000 people were deported from the United States.  Workers have no borders.

To End Mass Incarceration- Over 2.3 million are in jail in the United States, the highest incarceration rate in the world.  End the war on drugs which is being used to incarcerate people of color.

To Stop Home Foreclosures – Millions of workers are facing eviction from their homes because of the ongoing  financial crisis.

To Smash Imperialist War- End the war Afghanistan and stay out of Syria and Iran.

To Fight Sexism – End the attack on women’s rights.

We call upon all workers, students, and soldiers to join the Mayday March.

The March will leave from Malcolm X Park (16^th St and Euclid St NW) at 6:00pm on Wednesday, May 1.  Speeches and entertainment will begin at 5:00pm. The March will end at the White House.

Occupy DC May Day Committee  DCMAYDAY2013@GMAIL.COM