Unionists at Northwest Airlines bought two Militant subscriptions during a rally outside a company shareholders meeting in New York to prepare for a contract fight and a possible strike. Another worker at Northwest bought a Militant subscription at an informational picket line in Washington, D.C.

Socialist workers in Cleveland, Ohio, went to visit some of the workers who waged a five-day strike against McDonald's in Macedonia, Ohio. The workers bought five copies of the Militant and expressed interest in participating in an upcoming Militant Fund rally to tell their story.

In Australia, supporters of the socialist newsweekly have sold 19 copies and four subscriptions to the Militant on the picket lines of the locked out dock workers. Militant supporters in New Zealand have sold more than 20 copies at the wharves and naval docks there.

These are a few examples of an increasing number of workers, including those involved in battles, who are buying the Militant every week. Bundle orders of the Militant have gone up, and distributors are ordering extras.

Each week brings new confirmation that the political retreat of the working class around the world has ended in the United States and in most other imperialist countries -from the 560,000 workers who paralyzed Denmark with a general strike beginning April 27 to the picket lines and "hammer parties" by unionists involved in the contract fight at Northwest Airlines.

To take advantage of these political developments in the class struggle and the wide range of sales opportunities, we urge our readers to join an all-out campaign to meet the goals of winning new readers to the socialist press by May 10. Over the next week and a half supporters of the socialist press face a serious challenge to sell 613 subscriptions to the Militant, 179 subscriptions to Perspectiva Mundial, and 181 copies of New International to accomplish this aim. This goes hand-in-hand with appealing to Militant readers and others to go over the top on the $110,000 Militant Fund by the same date.

Socialists are among a much broader layer of working- class fighters who seek each other out and offer solidarity to each other's struggles. The unique contribution that socialists offer these fighters is the possibility to broaden their scope through reading Pathfinder books and the revolutionary press. This material is the only place that workers, and young people attracted to the working class, can learn from the true history of the struggle of working people and the kind of revolutionary perspective and organization that are necessary to fight effectively and win.

New International, the Militant, and Perspectiva Mundial are indispensable for gaining an internationalist perspective - defending immigrant rights and explaining the common struggle and class interests of workers in every country. The reports on pages 5 and 11 from the sales team to the packinghouses in the Midwest region of the United States brings this home, as worker-correspondents not only sold the paper, but reported on several raids by immigration cops there in recent months.

That's why it's important for supporters of the socialist press to achieve the sales goals. Success will mean having effectively reached out to working people, winning a new layer of readers, and broadening the influence of the communist movement. Participating in political events like conferences celebrating 100 years of struggle against Yankee imperialism, and the upcoming national Black farmers conference in Detroit (see page 12) are part of organizing a successful sales campaign.

This effort requires mapping out battle plans - unionists drawing up lists of co-workers to approach on the job, paying careful attention to organizing daily sales teams, taking time off work to join regional sales teams, hitting the college campuses, and going door to door in working class neighborhoods. Organizing active supporters of the communist movement to staff bookstores, make phone calls, and help free up members of the Socialist Workers Party, Young Socialists, and communist leagues to go out on sales teams can play an important role in achieving success in this subscription drive. We also encourage our supporters to call Militant subscribers to renew their subscriptions, read New International, and make a contribution to the Militant Fund. Some subscribers may decide to join the sales campaign, if asked.

Organizing along these lines can ensure that supporters of the socialist press meet all the goals of the sales campaign and fund drive by May 10. This is part of helping give shape to a political vanguard in the working class.  
 
 
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