****************************************************************** People's Tribune (Online Edition) Vol. 24 No. 6/ June, 1997 P.O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654 Email: pt@noc.org ****************************************************************** +----------------------------------------------------------------+ The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE is now available on the World Wide Web at http://www.mcs.com/~jdav/league.html +----------------------------------------------------------------+ INDEX to the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE (Online Edition) Vol. 24 No. 6/ June, 1997 Page One 1. 'WE ARE MARCHING FOR OUR LIVES': AMERICA'S POOR TAKE THEIR CASE TO THE UNITED NATIONS Editorial 2. THE 'DREAM ECONOMY': A HOUSE OF CARDS Spirit of the Revolution 3. NO ONE HAS TO BE HUNGRY IN THE 21ST CENTURY News and Features 4. 'MARCH FOR OUR LIVES' WILL TAKE PLIGHT OF AMERICA'S POOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS 5. VOLUNTEERISM FOR WHOM? 6. STAND FOR CHILDREN 1997: 7. "POVERTY OUTLAW": AN AMERICAN WOMAN'S LIFE IN POVERTY AFTER THE SAFETY NET'S GONE 8. WELFARE 'SUICIDES': MURDERED BY THE GOVERNMENT 9. NEW MEXICO: ATTACKS ON WELFARE DEMAND A RESPONSE 10. MARCH SUPPORTS STRAWBERRY PICKERS 11. 28TH AMENDMENT CAMPAIGN TOUCHES A NERVE: GRASSROOTS WORK IS HELPING BUILD LABOR PARTY 12. POOR WOMEN'S GROUP BACKS CALIFORNIA NURSES' STRUGGLE 13. SUMMIT DISCUSSES INDEPENDENT POLITICS 14. ARREST OF ILLINOIS BROADCASTERS SPARKS OUTRAGE 15. DEFIANT NEWSPAPER STRIKER WELCOMES MARCH ON DETROIT 16. JUNETEENTH 1997: WHICH WAY TO FREEDOM? American Lockdown 17. CALIFORNIA GROUP CONDEMNS PRISON RECLASSIFICATION >From the League 18. THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARIES FOR A NEW AMERICA: WHAT WE ARE AND WHY ****************************************************************** We encourage reproduction and use of all articles except those copyrighted. Please credit the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE depends on donations from its readers -- your generosity is appreciated. For free electronic subscription, send a message to pt-dist@noc.org with "Subscribe" in the subject line. For electronic subscription problems, e-mail pt-admin@noc.org. ****************************************************************** ****************************************************************** 1. 'WE ARE MARCHING FOR OUR LIVES': AMERICA'S POOR TAKE THEIR CASE TO THE UNITED NATIONS PHILADELPHIA -- From this city where American independence was born, a group of poor and homeless families, welfare recipients and supporters will begin a 10-day "March for Our Lives" on June 21 from the Liberty Bell to the United Nations in New York City. They will march under the banner of Philadelphia's Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU), a chapter of the National Welfare Rights Union. They are taking their case to the United Nations, indicting the United States for violating the human rights of its poorest residents. Says Cheri Honkala, executive director of the KWRU and a member of the Interim National Council of the Labor Party, "We don't just intend to collect evidence of human rights violations, [we intend] to build a massive movement in this country that exposes what is happening and to demand that everyone has a right to a job at a livable wage. We will be collecting people's stories and building a movement that is focused on taking back the basic necessities of life and creating a new America that supplies people with food, clothing and housing and puts an end to hunger and homelessness. This country has enough to go around. That is what is so stark about human rights violations in this country: We are not dealing with a scarcity in this country; we are dealing with a land of plenty." [For more, see story 4] ****************************************************************** 2. EDITORIAL: THE 'DREAM ECONOMY': A HOUSE OF CARDS The politicians and economists are proud as the winning quarterback after the Super Bowl. A "Dream Economy," the Chicago Tribune gushed on its front page. "It's the Best of Times," crowed the New York Times. Unemployment is down. Profits are up. Inflation is hiding under a bush somewhere. The stock market roars. The White House and Congress are making nice-nice over the budget, and soon it will even balance, we're told. The strongest economy in a generation, says the president. How lucky we are. But don't break out the champagne just yet. It's not the best of times for everyone, for one thing. And for another, there are some underlying trends that look pretty ominous. Better times are coming, but it's going to get worse before it gets better. First the bad news, however. For starters, since the way the government calculates unemployment tends to overlook a lot of jobless people, the actual unemployment rate is probably a good deal higher than the 4.9 percent the government claims -- maybe twice as high, by some estimates. And there are lots of people working as temps (temp jobs grew by 200 percent during the 1980s) or working part-time who want full-time employment, or working for wages too low to support one person, let alone a family. The Chicago Urban League found that 40 percent of the entry-level job openings in Illinois don't even pay the poverty-line income for a family of three, and three-quarters of the openings pay less than $17,000. Less than 4 percent of the entry-level openings in Illinois pay $24,000, which is what studies show is a minimum livable income for a family of four in Illinois. The Urban League also estimated there are more than four job-seekers for every entry-level job opening in Illinois. And the jobless are about to have company; welfare "reform" is expected to force a million public aid recipients into the job market nationwide this year, which could depress wages for the bottom third of the labor force by 12 percent, according to one study. The best of times? Ask the downsized. Nearly 30 percent of U.S. workers lost their jobs between 1990 and 1995 due to job cuts or company shutdowns. A Labor Department study of workers laid off between 1993 and 1995 revealed that 40 percent had found jobs that paid less or were part-time, and 26 percent still had not found work. A dream economy? Talk to the homeless. Even the government admits to 7 million homeless, and that doesn't count the ones who are living with friends or family, the "couch people." They're homeless, too. How many millions are they? Talk to the "mole people," who live in the tunnels under New York City. We bet they have dreams. The homeless aren't all unemployed, either; 24 percent of them have jobs and still can't afford housing. And by any realistic measure, almost a third of our population (some 80 million people) is poor, not the 14 percent the government claims. Of the nearly 11,000 babies born each day in America, some 2,500 are born into poverty. As for the stock market, if that's not a bubble ripe for bursting, we don't know what is. The value of the market has risen over 50 percent since 1994, or by more than $4 trillion. Its value represents five times the value of what the companies involved actually produce. Sooner or later the value of the market must fall to come into line with the real value of what the companies in the market produce. When it does, fortunes will be wiped out. There's no question somebody is benefiting from the strongest economy in a generation. Between 1979 and 1995, the inflation- adjusted income of the richest fifth of families grew by 26 percent, while that of the poorest fifth fell by 9 percent. Between 1989 and 1992, 68 percent of the increase in total household wealth went to the richest 1 percent, and that top 1 percent controls 42 percent of the national wealth. The point is, the "dream economy" is a house of cards in a country where there is a serious -- and growing -- polarity of wealth and poverty. Underlying all these numbers is the technological revolution, which is daily replacing labor with robots and computers, and in the process driving down the wages and living standards of those still employed while pushing profits (temporarily) up. Author Jeremy Rifkin has estimated some 90 million jobs will be eliminated by technology in the years ahead. Yes, new jobs are being created, but not as fast as they're disappearing. And bear in mind that it's a global economy now. You don't want to work cheap? You've got competition. As economist Lester Thurow put it, "Why should I pay an American engineer $100,000 a year when I can get a Russian engineer for $100 a month?" Because of rising productivity and falling living standards, what is really staring us in the face is not a dream economy, but a worldwide economic depression. What is really scary is what the wealthiest 1 percent of this society -- the ones who run this country -- plan to do about it: build more jails, hire more cops, trash the Constitution, and sow confusion and hatred to keep the rest of us disorganized. Boy. Some dream! There is a way out. Seven million homeless? There are over 11 million vacant housing units in the United States. Some 30 million Americans going hungry at some point each month? There is more than 380 billion pounds of food in storage in this country. Technology is at once our devil and our savior. But the people must control the technology, the means to produce what we need. There is no question but that the technological revolution will force a reorganization of society. But by whom, and for whom? The fact is, production without labor demands distribution without money, meaning a cooperative society where each of us contributes some labor and in return gets what we need to live full lives. The alternative -- a hideous fascism designed to maintain the existing distribution of wealth -- is too terrible to contemplate. ****************************************************************** 3. SPIRIT OF THE REVOLUTION: NO ONE HAS TO BE HUNGRY IN THE 21ST CENTURY By Laura Garcia [Editor's note: Below we print the latest contribution to our regular column about spirituality and revolution. The material below consists of an excerpt from a speech given by Laura Garcia, the editor of the People's Tribune, on a recent speaking tour in California. We encourage our readers to comment on the remarks below and to contribute to this column.] "Without a vision, the people perish." This statement from the Old Testament is truer today than ever before. Today, humanity finds itself on the brink of destruction; we desperately need a new vision to guide us to safer ground. Times like these test society, and can redefine society's moral psyche, since morality is an individual's conduct in society that is based on a sense of what's good, true and right. The morality that has guided us since the founding of our country has been that everyone has the right to "the pursuit of happiness." Happiness has been defined as everyone having food on the table and a home; the elderly being taken care of; and having the future of the children secured. While not everyone enjoyed the "American Dream," the vision of it inspired many of our ancestors to wage a fight to achieve it. Yet, today, we are told that it's not the way to go into the 21st century. The powers that be, through their politicians, spokespersons, and the established media, are drilling us into believing that not everyone can or should go into the 21st century. So, they are passing laws (with the "acquiescence" of the people) to build more prisons instead of more schools, to cut social services for poor women and children, to make it illegal to give coins to the homeless, to close the border to keep the starving masses out, to legalize the execution of 14-year-olds. The list goes on ... and the people begin to perish. Five thousand youths took their own lives last year; they saw no hope. About 96 children die each day in the United States due to poverty conditions; no hand pulls them out. Senior citizens who are legal residents of the United States are taking their own lives because their public aid is going to be cut on August 1; they see no other way out. Is this the way society must enter the 21st century? No. We are not living during the Dark Ages, when scarcity was the dominant factor. We are living in an epoch when the new means of production -- electronics-based production -- can produce plenty for everyone. We now have the technology to clone calves that can produce milk to feed infants; to build prefabricated houses in seven minutes; to build modern factories that can work around the clock churning, pumping, processing all the goods needed by our society. What's the problem? It's an economic system that makes the means of production -- the land, the factories, the machinery, etc. -- the private property of a few capitalists. One percent of the population owns 42 percent of the wealth. So, the people need a vision, a new vision based on society owning the means of production -- with a morality that says we must have distribution of society's wealth according to need, not according to how much money we have in our pockets. This is the vision that must guide us into the 21st century, not the vision that our rulers are putting forth. Is it a nice idea to help the least fortunate? Or is it the direction society must take, since it's estimated that 93 million of the 160 million jobs that currently exist in the United States will be taken over by robotics? [Laura Garcia is available for speaking engagements. For more information, contact the People's Tribune Speakers Bureau at 773- 486-3551 or send e-mail to speakers@noc.org.] ****************************************************************** 4. 'MARCH FOR OUR LIVES' WILL TAKE PLIGHT OF AMERICA'S POOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS By Joan Baptist PHILADELPHIA -- On Saturday, June 21, Philadelphia's Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) will kick off a historic 10-day "March for Our Lives" from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to the United Nations in New York City. The KWRU marched 140 miles last summer from Philadelphia to Pennsylvania's state Capitol at Harrisburg. That first "March for Our Lives" dramatized the life and death issues of impoverishment and homelessness as part of the national debate on welfare "reform." The march was an effort to place those most affected and victimized by these conditions front and center in this struggle. The demands of the group fell on deaf ears at the state Capitol, but every step of the way, the people of Pennsylvania and the nation were hearing more than just the footfalls of the marchers. They were hearing the stories of the homeless and poor who have begun to organize themselves into the ranks of a new army, refusing to surrender. The following is an interview with Cheri Honkala, executive director of the KWRU, a leading member of the War Council of the KWRU, co-president of the National Welfare Rights Union, and a member of the Interim National Council of the Labor Party: PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE: Why is the U.N. the target of the march? CHERI HONKALA: We decided to target the U.N. to take these issues to a higher body. Last year, we tried to meet with the governor of Pennsylvania. We have actively pursued local and state elected bodies that have been unresponsive to our demands. So we decided to take it to the U.N. The only response [from the state] actually, was to propose additional cuts in welfare. For example, in Pennsylvania, there is not only TANF [the welfare "reform" cuts], but an additional quarter of a million people got cut from medical assistance, and an additional 7,700 are being cut from public assistance. The federal government has abdicated its responsibility to its people. They are violating our human rights. We are now documenting human rights violations that we see as a result of welfare reform. We are encouraging people to send in their stories from across the country. PT: What impact do you think this march will have internationally, and why? CH: The idea of the march is already having an impact internationally. People are excited because they have been waiting for poor and homeless people in the United States to stand up to the things that are happening here. Things that happen here have an impact throughout the world. Our international friends are very excited and supportive. We are collecting care packages (non- perishable) at the National Health and Human Services Employees Union, care of "March for Our Lives," 310 West 43rd St., New York, New York 10036. PT: What impact do you hope this march will have nationally? CH: People throughout the United States are sending delegations from their state to participate in the march. Homeless families and other people concerned with human rights violations are involved in this march. We are getting representatives in every state. Welfare reform has been different in every state. However, what we have in common is that people are being hurt in all states. PT: Who is leading the march? CH: The march is being led by poor and homeless families and welfare recipients from the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, which is a chapter of the National Welfare Rights Union. It is crucial that the poor and homeless lead, because they are the most impacted by welfare reform and need to lead the march in our collective struggle for survival. We don't just intend to collect evidence of human rights violations, but to build a massive movement in this country that exposes what is happening and to demand that everyone has a right to a job at a livable wage. We will be collecting people's stories and building a movement that is focused on taking back the basic necessities of life and creating a new America that supplies people with food, clothing and housing and puts an end to hunger and homelessness. This country has enough to go around. That is what is so stark about human rights violations in this country: We are not dealing with a scarcity in this country; we are dealing with a land of plenty. [Editor's note: If you are interested in participating in or supporting the "March for Our Lives," contact the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, P.O. Box 50678, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19133. Phone 215-763-4584, or send e-mail to kwru@libertynet.org. If you would like to have Cheri Honkala speak to your organization, call the People's Tribune Speakers Bureau at 773- 486-3551.] ****************************************************************** 5. VOLUNTEERISM FOR WHOM? By Allen Harris It was a surprise of sorts to see Bill and Hillary Clinton, along with George and Barbara Bush, Jimmy Carter, and retired General Colin Powell, to name a few, join hands on the steps of Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The purpose of their display of bipartisanship was the launching of a volunteer program to aid 2 million needy children. "I want to redefine the meaning of citizenship," proclaimed Clinton. He announced that the days of big government are over and that today our mission is to spark a national sense of obligation, a new sense of duty, and a new season of service. It so happens that 93 million Americans already perform four hours of volunteer work each week on top of the one, two or even three jobs that many are holding to make ends meet. According to Independent Sector, a group that studies nonprofit organizations, these 93 million put in 20.3 billion hours of their time in 1995. Per person, that came to about 218 hours or just over nine days. There's nothing at all wrong with volunteerism or volunteering. There is something wrong with some spokesmen for the wealthy rulers of this land suggesting that ordinary people must take up the slack left by a government that has abandoned the poor. "If all 200 million Americans gave three hours a month, there would be 600 million voluntary hours a month to find a child and teach it to read, a drug addict to get off drugs, or a poor person to teach how to be profitable," claims Newt Gingrich. "If every church in America hired just one family, the welfare problem would go way down," chimes Bill Clinton. But this begs the question, which in fact was asked by a Boston minister in a recent article in U.S. News & World Report: "If there are really 93 million volunteers in America, then why are our cities worse than they have ever been?" Isn't the function of government to serve the people? It seems that government is serving only some of the people -- the wealthiest. While Clinton and Gingrich tell us to volunteer more, the government is volunteering your tax dollars to maintain welfare for the rich. Direct federal spending on business is estimated at $75 billion, with another $20 billion in special tax breaks. The billionaires who rule this country, who live quite well in an economic system which impoverishes the rest of us, are the same ones who are telling the American people to volunteer their way out of poverty, but don't disturb their position and privileges. Volunteer, but don't disturb their wealth and property. Volunteer, but don't distribute the vast wealth of this land freely to the neediest. When "volunteerism" is placed within the context of millions of people losing their wherewithal to survive, it's clear that it is not a real solution. Yet we are living in an era of unprecedented abundance. Modern technology can produce enough food to feed the entire world. The possibility of creating a world of plenty for all exists. The problem is that the people who own the productive capacity of the country will not allow people to have it unless they have the money to pay. Something has to give, and it is. Welfare mothers and homeless people in Philadelphia have raised volunteerism to the level approaching that of the American Revolution by taking over abandoned HUD homes and putting families into them, regardless of whether they have money. Poor people are marching from Philadelphia to the United Nations headquarters in New York to protest the 1996 welfare reform law, which many have cited as a violation of international law regarding human rights. There's an Old Testament saying that without vision, the people perish. The American people are a generous people. They want to do their part in building a better society. As a people, they do not own the resources that make fundamental change possible. But their willingness to help those in need can be a springboard to begin serious debate about how we can build an entirely new society on a new foundation. ****************************************************************** 6. STAND FOR CHILDREN 1997: LEAVE NO CHILD BEHIND Stand For Children was created to make people aware of the needs of children and to mobilize action to ensure that no child is left behind. Last year, more than 250,000 people rallied in Washington in the largest national demonstration for children in the nation's history. This year's Stand For Children will take place in hundreds of communities across the country June 1. The focus is on ensuring that every child is healthy and gets a healthy start in life. For more information, visit the Stand For Children web site at http://www.stand.org or call 202-234-0095. You can also demonstrate on-line by visiting www.stand.org. You can sign a virtual petition for healthy children along with tens of thousands of other Americans. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ "Leave no child behind." Embodied in these four simple words is the guiding value behind Stand For Children and what must be the guiding value behind any moral and reasonable society. To lift every child up ... to give every child a healthy start ... [It] won't happen spontaneously or even because it's right. It requires your dedication, your initiative, your involvement. Please join us on June 1." -- Marian Wright Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund "Stand For Children day gave us a glimpse of the energy and enthusiasm that exist. ... Participants [at last year's rally] told me that Stand For Children had turned them into committed advocates for this nation's youth." -- Jonah Edelman, son of Marian Wright Edelman, in an interview with Parade magazine +----------------------------------------------------------------+ >From the editors: LET'S STAND FOR CHILDREN, LET'S TRANSFORM AMERICA The thousands of Americans participating in Stand For Children activities, and working in defense of welfare moms, for child care and for Head Start, are making an important statement: They will no longer live in a world where children cannot grow healthy in body and spirit. The People's Tribune wholeheartedly supports Stand For Children 1997. Consider this ... the suffering and child poverty could end overnight. How? By distributing the food, the clothing, the shelter, the health care, the education, the necessities of life -- the world of abundance -- to each person based on what they need rather than on what they pay. You may be thinking: "Those things are privately owned. They belong to the capitalists." Yes, that's true. But, labor created capital and capital should be public property to be used to provide a decent world for all of us. The new technology today can provide every child and every adult with a decent life if it is used for the benefit of everyone. Isn't this the moral thing to do? To achieve this world, we have to participate in all of the efforts people are involved in. We need to meet people that are making these changes, educate ourselves and debate the new ideas that can make a new America possible. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ * one mother dies in childbirth * three people under 25 die from HIV * six children and youths commit suicide * 466 babies are born to mothers who received late prenatal care or no prenatal care * 2,556 babies are born into poverty * 3,086 public school students receive corporal punishment * 3,356 high school students drop out * 6,042 children are arrested +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 7. "POVERTY OUTLAW": AN AMERICAN WOMAN'S LIFE IN POVERTY AFTER THE SAFETY NET'S GONE "Poverty Outlaw" is the story of hard choices posed by living in poverty without society's "safety net." It is told through the eyes of one woman in Philadelphia. Her life has led her on a perilous descent from middle-class security, to welfare, to abject poverty. Eventually, the choices she must make put her on the wrong side of the law. She has become an "outlaw." "Poverty Outlaw" is the first documentary to show, from the point of view of the welfare recipients themselves, some of the devastating effects of "welfare reform." This video is a must for anyone interested in the issues of welfare, poverty, women, human rights and organizing for economic justice. VHS cassettes are available from Skylight Pictures, 330 West 42nd Street, 32nd Floor, New York, New York 10036. Phone: 212-947-5333. Fax: 212-947-5401. E-mail: PKINOY@aol.com Order your video today: $10 for welfare recipients and poverty activists. $ 20 for individuals. $ 50 for institutions. Add $5 for shipping and handling. Please make checks payable to: Skylight Pictures. All profits are split with the Kensington Welfare Rights Union. ****************************************************************** 8. WELFARE 'SUICIDES': MURDERED BY THE GOVERNMENT By S. Reid Aron Akilov, 19, a legal immigrant, came to New York from the former Soviet Union with his family. He had a hard time finding work. No one would interview him because he couldn't speak English. But the young man was hopeful. He was enrolled in an English language course, which he knew was essential to his getting a job. Then his hopes were crushed. He received a letter from the welfare department that said he must report to workfare. He feared he would have to drop out of school. Aron Akilov committed suicide. This is only the tip of the iceberg. In Pennsylvania, a Latino immigrant committed suicide after learning his food stamps would be cut off. An immigrant man in California had a heart attack and died after receiving notice that his benefits would end. An elderly Chinese immigrant overdosed on pills. He had cancer, feared losing Medicaid, and was ashamed by the prospect of becoming a financial burden to his family. Where will it end? These people were murdered by our government, which, by passing the federal welfare "reform" legislation, says it no longer has any responsibility to provide for people in need. Is this the kind of world we want our children to grow up in? What is more precious -- human life or profit? Today, with the advance of science and technology, for the first time in history, we can produce plenty of food, clothing, medicine, and health care, more than enough to go around. No one need go without. But these things are privately owned. Without money, more and more Americans are going to starve and die in capitalism's graveyard for discarded workers. On the day his fellow students were mourning Akilov's death, President Clinton proclaimed the "success" of the new federal welfare regulations. We cannot let Clinton and the profit-driven capitalists he represents determine the kind of world we're going to live in. The deaths of Aron Akilov and the others must not be in vain. They can become symbols of our commitment to educate the American people so that they can gain political power and build a world where each human life is cherished. We're talking about a world of plenty based on human needs, not on the private profit of the few. [Some of the information in this article came from "Dying to Work," an article in Tikkun magazine written by Phyllis Berman.] ****************************************************************** 9. NEW MEXICO: ATTACKS ON WELFARE DEMAND A RESPONSE By Sylvia Wood [Editor's note: Below we print excerpts from an article originally published in the TVI (Technical Vocational Institute) Times in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was submitted by a reader.] ALBUQUERQUE -- During stressful times, single parents can become abusive toward their children. Parents displace anger, fear and frustration with their difficult situation onto the most available targets, the children. One major factor pushing parents toward the breaking point and abuse is financial crises. Financial problems cause severe stress for families. The abusive parent often uses violence to compensate for their perceived lack of power. They feel like they have lost control and cannot resolve their situation. With new welfare reform, there will be many single parents pushed to their breaking point. Stress and feelings of inadequacy predispose these families to violence. During the last election, President Clinton signed the welfare reform bill to make budget cuts and to win votes. Now entitlement to welfare ends in July, and we go to block grants for the states. The federal government suggests a five-year lifetime limit for assistance. Senator Edward Kennedy, who voted against the bill, described it as "legislative child abuse." New Mexico has decided on benefit limitations. The proposal put forth by Gov. Johnson is a three-year lifetime limit. To qualify, the welfare recipient must work at least 25 hours per week, and go to school or job training. Are there enough jobs in New Mexico to do this? Will those jobs sustain a single parent and his or her children? Will the welfare recipient work permanently? What will happen if he or she loses the job after he or she has used up the three years allowed? The Urban Institute study on this reform found that the new welfare bill would "make many families that are already poor still poorer." There are cuts to assistance, cuts to food stamps, cuts to disabled children on SSI, and cuts to child nutrition programs. Many of these programs are just being cut, not reformed. The big hit will come when the time limits first take effect; many will fall into homelessness, which brings more violence and crime, and child abuse will grow worse. This is not a pretty picture, and I hope that those of you on welfare are hearing the warnings and know what this means. I have recently joined a group called Welfare Action and they are trying to get bills passed in Santa Fe. Please join me and others to make our lives livable. For information, call Welfare Action at 505-268-0940. ****************************************************************** 10. MARCH SUPPORTS STRAWBERRY PICKERS By Yolanda Catzalco SAN FRANCISCO--You could feel the spirit, the common demands and the feeling of support as a just cause involved a united people in the march on April 13, 1997, in Watsonville, California. The desires and hopes of the strawberry pickers for better wages and better work conditions could be heard deep in the hearts of those who marched. The streets were not big enough for the thousands of people of Mexican descent, African Americans, Anglo-Americans and Asians. Mothers with baby carriages, Zapatistas, members from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the United Auto Workers (UAW), the Labor Party, newscasters, Brown Berets, young teen-agers, children, elderly and students were just a few of those who participated in the march. There were people from as far away as Alaska and New York, and as near as the people who live in Watsonville. Slogans and calls written on flags and banners demanded the right to organize unions, higher salaries and unity between the workers and unemployed, as well as those on public aid. The rainbow fan forged by the people sang songs such as "Si Se Puede," encouraging everyone. We ask that everyone send letters of support or for those who are able, to donate their time to the United Farm Workers union for this just cause or for the other causes and organizations that represent people in a time of change. ****************************************************************** 11. 28TH AMENDMENT CAMPAIGN TOUCHES A NERVE: GRASSROOTS WORK IS HELPING BUILD LABOR PARTY By R. Lee Ed Bruno is fairly bubbling with enthusiasm as he talks about how the Labor Party's 28th Amendment Campaign is going. The party's proposed constitutional amendment would guarantee everyone a job at a living wage. Labor Party chapters and affiliated unions and organizations around the country kicked off the campaign with two weeks of petition drives and other activities in late April and early May. Bruno, a regional organizer for the Labor Party in New England, is acting as national coordinator for the campaign. He told the People's Tribune May 15 that Labor Party members have been active around the campaign in 46 locations across the nation. The party is assessing the results of this activity, and plans another week of focused campaigning in June. People are mainly going door-to-door and in their workplaces seeking petition signatures in support of the amendment, and talking to people about the Labor Party. "The response to the door-to-door work has been very good," said Bruno. He said the campaign has a broader goal than getting petition signatures. "We want people to sign the petition, but what we really want is to get people to talk and to think about a job in a new way, and get people to join a political party that is trying to do something about the issue. "What we're beginning to see is fairly significant interest in talking about a Labor Party, and we're also picking up some dues- paying members on the spot. It's mostly big-city stuff. The smaller towns and rural areas are just starting to come up now," said Bruno. He cited the example of Detroit, where two Sundays of canvassing a working-class neighborhood resulted in 87 people asking for more information about the party, five people joining the party on the spot, 192 signing the petition and 20 copies of the Labor Party Press being sold. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Seattle have also reported encouraging results. "We've been successful all over the country," Bruno said. "It really is a straight class question," Bruno added. "People who look like they're prosperous or like they're employers don't have any trouble identifying this [amendment proposal] as a bad idea. Those who look like you and me say, 'Of course we should have a right to a job at a living wage.' Then [with these people] we get into more discussion on the party -- what is it, can it make a difference, and how can we put this idea into practice -- which is really the discussion we want to be having." The party plans another week of intense campaigning the week of June 7-14, to coincide with the first anniversary of the party's founding. After that, each area will "pick a neighborhood, ward or precinct to focus our grassroots work on over the summer, and we'll build the party and the campaign in that place at least through Labor Day," said Bruno. In addition to the door-to-door work, the campaign also involves taking the issue to union locals, welfare rights groups, neighborhood environmental groups, block clubs and sports leagues. The campaign will not end this year, but will be an ongoing vehicle for building the party and educating people, said Bruno. "It's the calling card of the Labor Party," he added. "You can't have a working-class party if you don't talk seriously about jobs and wages. We envision this [campaign] going on consistently, steadily. It won't be the only thing we do, but it will enhance anything else we're dealing with, whether it's Social Security or whatever." Building the party, he said, means the hard grassroots work of "going at it one neighborhood and one workplace at a time. We have to broaden politics out to people who mostly don't participate at all." [For more information, contact the Labor Party, P.O. Box 53177, Washington, D.C. 20009] ****************************************************************** 12. POOR WOMEN'S GROUP BACKS CALIFORNIA NURSES' STRUGGLE OAKLAND, California -- On April 16, virtually all the registered nurses and the overwhelming majority of all other unionized employees participated in a 24-hour walkout at 45 Northern California Kaiser hospitals and clinics. In the wake of the successful strike, the Women's Economic Agenda Project (WEAP) joined forces with the California Nurses Association (CNA) on May 6, WEAP said in a press release. In a demonstration in front of the Oakland City Hall, and a speak- out at the City Council meeting, both the CNA and WEAP called on Kaiser to restore full emergency care and all hospital services in Richmond, Oakland and Martinez, California. According to WEAP, Kaiser Permanente faces the termination of federal Medicare and Medicaid funding as a result of service cuts, complaints following a series of patient deaths in Richmond, and violations of five major federal safety standards. Kaiser's decision to operate a pared-down hospital and limiting access to care will mean denial of specialized and emergency care to the poor and low-income workers who have no access to health care, and sharp cuts of 15 percent in skilled nursing care, said WEAP. "WEAP applauds the CNA's courageous effort not to stand by themselves but to link the struggles of employed and unemployed workers as they attempt to provide quality health care to our community," WEAP said. Rose Robinson, health care advocate for WEAP, has been following the privatization of our health care system. She said, "What's happening to working people is America's health care is a profit- driven industry controlled by giant insurance companies and managed-care conglomerates. Shrinking coverage now leaves 42 million Americans without any health insurance whatsoever. In 1981, 18 percent of all HMOs were for-profit. By 1995, the market share of investor-owned, for-profit HMOs was 70 percent." Carolyn Milligan of WEAP, who depends on health care services as a poor disabled woman, said: "This type of stepping away from the responsibility of providing health care to a section of workers who supported and helped to make Kaiser a household name is exactly why everyone needs to support the Labor Party's call to guarantee universal access to quality health care. The Labor Party's program says 'Health care is a critical social good which demands that collective interest prevail over private-gain health programs.' This is the program of a new awakening independent voice." This independent voice is part of a growing independent movement of poor, working poor and near poor who reject the schemes such as Clinton's welfare "reform" that makes people throwaways, WEAP said. "WEAP, like the CNA and the Labor Party, is advancing our self-sufficiency and economic security plans as part of a fight to reclaim and revitalize our communities," WEAP said. [For more information, call the Women's Economic Agenda Project at 510-451-7379.] ****************************************************************** 13. SUMMIT DISCUSSES INDEPENDENT POLITICS By William H. Watkins DECATUR, Illinois -- This city hosted the 1997 National Independent Politics Summit on May 2-4. Decatur -- known as a "war zone" to many union activists -- is experiencing widespread labor unrest. Especially affected are the A.E. Staley Manufacturing Co., the Caterpillar Tractor Co., and the Bridgestone/Firestone companies. Strikes, lockouts, corporate greed, and police terror dominate the city's landscape. More than 100 delegates from across the country attended the conference. Delegates represented unions, community organizations, welfare rights groups, churches, and universities. Plenary sessions and workshops took up such issues as union democracy, unemployment, race and gender discrimination, welfare rights, Social Security, coalition building, the global economy, ecology, and building the independent organizations of labor. Speakers reported on the political struggles in Mexico, New Zealand, Brazil and various European countries. Despite organizational and ideological differences, the delegates generally agreed that the growing poverty and desperation among the nation's people overshadows any differences that progressives might have. Delegates agreed in principle to fight for more jobs, living wages, independent union and political action, and labor law reform. [For more information, call the Independent Progressive Politics Network at 718-624-7807 or send e-mail to indpol@igc.apc.org.] ****************************************************************** 14. ARREST OF ILLINOIS BROADCASTERS SPARKS OUTRAGE By Tracy Jake Siska [Editor's note: Freedom of speech is under attack in Decatur, Illinois. On the morning of Saturday, May 10, Decatur police officers attacked the home of Napoleon Williams and Mildred Jones, arresting the two founders of Black Liberation Radio. Police officers equipped with shields and gas masks cut off the electric power to the house and completely destroyed the front door. The raid was the latest of many acts of official harassment. For seven years, Black Liberation Radio, a small, unlicensed FM station, has courageously exposed official misconduct in central Illinois. Napoleon Williams and Mildred Jones have paid a high price for their work with Black Liberation Radio. An Illinois state agency took custody of the couple's older daughter, Unique Dream, in 1992 and of the younger daughter, Atrue Dream, in 1994. The couple is still fighting to regain custody of those two children. A growing number of journalists and media activists have been contacting Black Liberation Radio since the May 10 raid to cover the story and express their concern. Below we print excerpts from a firsthand report on the situation in Decatur by Tracy Jake Siska, a progressive media activist from Chicago who visited Black Liberation Radio twice in May.] DECATUR, Illinois -- I visited here in late May with Mildred Jones and others. Here are the facts as of May 23: Napoleon Williams has been released from Macon County Jail. I spoke to Napoleon while he was in jail from his home and he stated that he knows that the charges are just trumped-up and this is why: The police arrested Napoleon on a warrant from a grand jury that was called for by a man from the Illinois attorney general's office, rather than by the Macon County state's attorney. This is because Napoleon is charged with felony eavesdropping. What he did was to place a call on the air to a person or persons with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and inquire about the status of his children. Over the air, the person or persons admitted to knowing that the case did not hold water. Mr. Larry Fichter, the Macon County state's attorney who has been on a campaign to get Black Liberation Radio and both Napoleon and Mildred for seven years, could not let Napoleon take a tape of this conversation in to court. Napoleon was quickly indicted and a raid subsequently occurred on January 9, in which the radio equipment and other material, including a computer, compact discs, and compact disc players were taken by the police. After this raid, a warrant was issued for Napoleon for felony eavesdropping. However, the worst was yet to come. On May 10, a raid occurred where Napoleon and Mildred were taken into custody -- Napoleon for the eavesdropping warrant and Mildred for aiding and abetting a fugitive. This charge against Mildred has violated her parole [stemming from a very questionable conviction for shoplifting a purse] and she is due to be sentenced around June 20. Her probation will most likely be revoked and she will have to serve the remainder of her sentence -- six years. She is presently five months pregnant and will give birth in jail. Her very real fear is that when her probation is revoked, Napoleon will still be fighting his legal case; thus, DCFS will have a clear path to get both of them declared unfit parents. This action will assure that the newest baby will become state property immediately after birth. There needs to be instant action if we are to stop the present situation from playing itself out. In just weeks, Mildred is due to be sentenced. We must get the charges on both Napoleon and Mildred thrown out, or Mildred and Napoleon may never get custody of their children again, let alone that they will be separated for six years on totally false charges. Please -- at the very least, make a call to the state's attorney's office in Macon County or pitch in for Napoleon's defense fund. If we let one person be incarcerated falsely, we open the cell doors for all of us. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ TO SEND A DONATION: Make out a check to "Mildred Jones" and indicate in the memo section of the check that it is for Black Liberation Radio. Mail it to Black Liberation Radio, 629 E. Center Street, Decatur, Illinois 62526. TO PROTEST THE ARRESTS: Contact Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan Phone: 217-782-9082 Fax: 217-524-7740 Call the Macon County state's attorney's office at 217-424-1440. To obtain more information: Call Black Liberation Radio at 217-423-9997. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** 15. DEFIANT NEWSPAPER STRIKER WELCOMES MARCH ON DETROIT [Editor's Note: The following is the text of a speech given at a gathering of Detroit newspaper strikers and supporters on March 1, 1997. The gathering was sponsored by ACOSS (Action Coalition of Strikers and Supporters). June 20 and 21, 1997 are the dates for the mobilization for Action! Motown '97, in support of the Detroit newspaper workers who have been on strike since July 1995. For more information on Action! Motown '97, call 313-961-4480 or visit the Acoss web site at: http://members. aol.com/actmotown] By Daymon J. Hartley DETROIT -- Good afternoon, fellow locked-out workers and supporters. Let me remind you: This is a war. And in this war we've suffered many casualties. More than 70 strikers have suffered serious injuries including brain damage. Four strikers died prematurely -- undoubtedly from the stress of our struggle. Sister Sue Wozniak. Brother Art Robbins. Brother Gerald Janish. Brother Ron Gates. We're tired. We're frustrated. We've faced so many crises. And our belief in the American Dream has become a nightmare. But we are a relentless group. And we refuse to let the sacrifices our brothers and sisters have made be in vain. We're facing a new crisis today. We're struggling now with an unconditional offer to return to work. An offer that was made against the will and without the democratic input of most strikers. Have no doubt, it was a surrender on the part of some of our international leaders. I don't know about you, but I haven't surrendered yet. I have, however, turned my energies to fighting on a new front. Make no mistake, I'm not here to cheerlead or to put a happy face on our situation. Because this is a crisis. And within this crisis, we will face new opportunities and new dangers. The trick is for us to recognize and seize the opportunities and to lessen the dangers. Many of us knew 20 months ago that 2,000 strikers and their families could never defeat two multibillion-dollar corporations and their many corporate allies at their own game. They will always have more money to fight with. But we will always have more people. The only way we can win now or ever could win is by surrounding ourselves with the people and the power of the entire labor movement. Finally, we've got a chance to do that. The labor leaders in Washington have answered our call for a national labor march. Maybe it was their idea of a consolation prize. But nevertheless, on June 20 and 21, we will have the opportunity to bring thousands of unionists and other fair-minded people to Detroit to do what we should have done -- what some of us tried to do -- right from the beginning of this strike. I'll leave the details of that strategy up to your imagination! We now have the chance -- and the AFL- CIO's resources -- to show these corporations -- and the entire corporate class -- that if they mess with one of us, they mess with all of us. This march gives us the chance to mobilize the thousands and hundreds of thousands of supporters we know we have locally, nationally and even internationally. Yes, we now have the potential to energize all of labor and make up for PATCO, Staley, Caterpillar and all the other brutal defeats we have suffered for far too long. You know, some people don't like it when you bring up those blemishes on the labor movement. But I refuse to forget those defeats and all the defeats and blows we've suffered during this strike. Because I believe that famous philosopher who once said, "Those who forget the past are condemned to relive it." I don't know about you, but I don't care to relive too much of the past 20 months. We've hurt these companies. They have hurt us. And worst of all, we've hurt ourselves. Indeed, we in Detroit and really all of labor are in a crisis. But now is not the time to wallow. It's not the time to throw in the towel. It's time to mobilize. It's time to energize. Finally, our chance, the working person's chance to take back the streets, the corporations and, let's say it, it's time for the working person to take back this country. In those famous words, if not now, when? When we will get another opportunity like this? And if not here, where will we take a stand against a corporate class that is determined to destroy this country's working class? No Contract, No Peace! Shut down Motown! ****************************************************************** 16. JUNETEENTH 1997: WHICH WAY TO FREEDOM? By Nelson Peery On the 19th of June, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill abolishing slavery in the federal territories. That act was the beginning of the end of the greatest crime in human history, one which began with Christopher Columbus' enslavement and genocide of the Caribbean Indians. It continued through the horrors of the African slave trade, the butchery of the indigenous peoples, and chattel slavery in the United States. It ended in the fire, destruction and glory of the Civil War. As news of the partial emancipation spread, it became known and celebrated by fighters for liberty as "Juneteenth." The abolition of slavery and, a century later, the mechanization of Southern agriculture, made winning the struggle for civil rights for all people possible. Four decades of often bloody mass struggle brought about fundamental changes in laws governing and regulating the minorities and special groupings in this country. The winning of de jure or legal equality brought an end to the era of legal special oppression and discrimination. So we see that Juneteenth is a celebration belonging to all peoples. The battle, not yet won, continues. The spirit of Juneteenth takes on a new meaning today. The current era is characterized by the struggle on the part of the lower classes to implement and give life to the laws won with such suffering. The disintegration of a number of organizations and the rise of new ones is precisely around this question of securing in practice not simply the letter but the spirit of these laws. All times of transformation are characterized by confusion. There is a lot of transformation and confusion as new generations and new personalities step forward to carry on the struggle. They pick up the organizational and ideological weapons handed them by the passing generation, only to find that these weapons no longer do the job. New forces entering the struggle sense that the key to victory is unity of the greatest force possible. This means uniting with other nationalities and groupings on the basis of common problems and needs. Finding a common basis for unity is a class question and a serious problem, surrounded as it is by questions of history and ideology. The old organizations these new forces enter were necessarily based on nationality or gender. They once played an important role in organizing the various communities in the fight for civil rights. Their strength lay in the possibility of organizing people in their community regardless of economic or social status. For example, all blacks were discriminated against and forced to live in a segregated community no matter how much money or education they had. This equality of social oppression was the foundation for what became known as all-class unity. At that time, the cry for unity across ethnic lines based on class need was rejected in favor of the tactic of each group uniting its own community first on needs specific to that group and then broader unity could be discussed. Such a tactic conformed to the need of the petty bourgeois leaders to present themselves (and reap the profit), as the individuals who spoke for and represented the mass of "their people." With the winning of de jure equality, a certain amount of integration was open to those who had the resources to integrate. The upper strata, which provided the majority of the organizational leadership, integrated and essentially deserted the struggle. Their newly acquired economic class interests overshadowed, and often contradicted, concern for "their people." Today, black generals command Army units sent against the liberation struggles of peoples of color. Chicano cops are in charge of the brutal occupation of Chicano communities. Black intellectuals lead the struggle to dismantle affirmative action. It is small wonder that new forces struggling for unity complain, "How can we unite across color lines when we can't even unite our own people?" There is no longer a material base for all-class unity. Under the present circumstances, is it possible to unite one's color or nationality? No, it is not. Is it necessary to unite one's own nationality before reaching out along the lines of class unity? It is not necessary, and it is not possible. Despite these facts, the mass organizations are still mainly oriented around that policy. Each stage or era of the struggle is marked by something specific that differentiates it from all other periods. The previous period was marked by the struggle of nations and nationalities to unite for their freedom. This period is clearly marked by the emergence of a new multiracial, multinational class of poor people whose problems can only be solved by uniting as a class rather than along ethnic or national lines. Under changing circumstances, things turn into their opposites. The once-progressive effort to unite nations and nationalities is totally reactionary today. This Juneteenth places a heavy burden on the shoulders of the older revolutionaries to turn the old ideas loose, open their minds, and fight for the unity of this new class of poor. It places on the shoulders of the new, younger generation of revolutionaries the responsibility of resisting this siren song of nationalism and of fighting for the future as teachers and representatives of this new revolutionary class. [Nelson Peery is the author of Black Fire: The Making of an American Revolutionary and is available to speak through the People's Tribune Speaker's Bureau.] ****************************************************************** 17. CALIFORNIA GROUP CONDEMNS PRISON RECLASSIFICATION [Editor's note: In a secret move, without following proper procedure, the California state prison system began reclassifying life-sentence prisoners in early May. Below, we print excerpts from a statement issued by the Litigation in Freedom Rights Project.] Gov. Pete Wilson and members of the executive branch of California's government are violating the state and federal constitution and state laws. There is a "targeted class" deemed to be "undesirable" by the Wilson administration -- California's prisoners. Their constitutional rights are being violated. Within this "targeted class," there is a group [of people] who have been prompted to litigate a civil tort claim against Wilson. They took this step after learning that Wilson has legislatively mandated duties as governor. These duties are related to the constitution and the lawfully guaranteed liberty-interest rights of determining parole release for this "undesirable" group of citizens. To ensure these citizens do receive their constitutionally vested interests, the California legislature imposed upon the governor a ministerial duty to appoint the commissioners to the Board of Prison Terms. The legislature required that these appointees "shall" as nearly as possible, feature a reflective "cross-section" of the "population of California." These appointees are also to consist of a variety of persons of different "backgrounds," "abilities," "interests," "races," "genders," and "opinions." Instead, Wilson and his disciples have chosen to violate these laws by appointing commissioners who are of the same interests, opinions and who only reflect the law enforcement and political community. Wilson and his appointed minions think and feel that California's population is reminiscent of a politically motivated police state and not that of a true democratic republic for which California really stands. It seems that Wilson and his appointed disciples think and feel that their actions affect only those "undesirable" Americans. Their line of thinking is not only incorrect, but totally parallel to that of Adolf Hitler and his appointed "hacks" while they were destroying the lives of many millions of "undesirable" citizens of Europe. If we as Americans keep allowing these violations of basic constitutional rights to continue, then these government officials will violate any law or constitutional right of any citizen whenever they deem it necessary! Write letters, make calls and get the word out to enforce the rights of not only the prisoners' families, but every American citizen as well! ****************************************************************** 18. THE LEAGUE OF REVOLUTIONARIES FOR A NEW AMERICA: WHAT WE ARE AND WHY The League is an organization of revolutionaries. * We are people from all walks of life, with various ideals and ideologies. * We are organized to awaken the American people to their growing poverty and the threat of a fascist police state. A police state is a society controlled by police forces who are above the law and responsible to no one but themselves. * We are organized to bring the people a vision of a peaceful, prosperous, orderly world made possible by the very automation and economic globalization which, in the hands of capitalists, threatens our existence. In a word, the League of Revolutionaries for a New America educates and fights for the transfer of economic and political power into the hands of the people so they can build a democratic, cooperative, communal society. HERE IS WHY -- Rapidly expanding automation is doing away with most human work and will pauperize the humans doing the work that remains. Capitalism has no use for and will not care for human labor when robotics is more profitable. Consequently, the growing mass of permanently unemployed people are sinking deeper and deeper into poverty. A huge global movement of the destitute is getting underway. The demand for the essentials of a decent life and no money to pay for them marks it as the world's first revolutionary mass movement for communism. (The American Heritage Dictionary defines "communism" as "a social system characterized by the common ownership of the means of production and subsistence and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members.") This developing movement needs to understand its historic mission and how to achieve it. The No. 1 need of the revolution is for an organization of teachers, of propagandists who will bring it clarity. Only then can the people of this country save themselves from the threat of a new world order of poverty and oppression. The League of Revolutionaries for a New America has been formed to carry out that task. Historically, a revolution in the economy makes a revolution in society inevitable. We must prepare for it. If you agree with this perspective, let's get it together -- our collective experience, intelligence and commitment can change America and the world. Collectivize with us. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ Now is the time to join the League of Revolutionaries for a New America Humanity is being reborn in an age of great revolutionary change. The tools exist to produce all that we need for a peaceful, orderly world. For the first time in history, a true flowering of the human intellect and spirit is possible. Our fight is to reorganize society to accomplish these goals. For more information, call 773-486-0028. Send the coupon to P.O. Box 477113, Chicago, Illinois 60647. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ I WANT TO JOIN! * I want to join the LRNA. Please send information. * Enclosed is my donation of $_____ +----------------------------------------------------------------+ I want to subscribe! * People's Tribune. $2 for four issues or $25 for a year. * Tribuno del Pueblo. $2 for four issues or $10 for a year. (You can also get bundles of 10 or more copies of the PT or TP for 15 cents per copy.) Name Address City/State/Zip +----------------------------------------------------------------+ ****************************************************************** ABOUT THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, published every two weeks in Chicago, is devoted to the proposition that an economic system which can't or won't feed, clothe and house its people ought to be and will be changed. To that end, this paper is a tribune of the people. It is the voice of the millions struggling for survival. It strives to educate politically those millions on the basis of their own experience. It is a tribune to bring them together, to create a vision of a better world, and a strategy to achieve it. Join us! Editor: Laura Garcia Publisher: League of Revolutionaries for a New America, P.O. Box 477113, Chicago, IL 60647 (312) 486-0028 ISSN# 1081-4787 For free electronic subscription, email: pt-dist@noc.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject. To help support the production and distribution of the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, please send donations, letters, articles, photos, graphics and requests for information, subscriptions and requests for bundles of papers to: PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE P.O. Box 3524 Chicago, IL 60654 pt@noc.org Reach us by phone: Chicago: (312) 486-3551 Atlanta: (404) 242-2380 Baltimore: (410) 467-4769 Detroit: (313) 839-7600 Los Angeles: (310) 428-2618 Washington, D.C.: (202) 529-6250 Oakland, CA: (510) 464-4554 GETTING THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE IN PRINT The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE is available at many locations nationwide. One year subscriptions $25 ($50 institutions), bulk orders of 10 or more 15 cents each, single copies 25 cents. Contact PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, P. O. Box 3524, Chicago, Illinois 60654, tel. (312) 486- 3551. WRITING FOR THE PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE We want your story in the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE. Send it in! Articles should be shorter than 300 words, written to be easily understood, and signed. (Use a pen name if you prefer.) Include a phone number for questions. Contact PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE, P. O. Box 3524, Chicago, IL 60654, tel. (312) 486-3551. ****************************************************************** We encourage reproduction and use of all articles except those copyrighted. Please credit the PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE. The PEOPLE'S TRIBUNE depends on donations from its readers -- your generosity is appreciated. For free electronic subscription, email: pt-dist@noc.org with a message of "subscribe". ******************************************************************