BY PETER THIERJUNG
NEW YORK - Counting down the days left in April, the
socialist workers in Pathfinder's print shop here are
stepping up efforts to keep several Pathfinder titles in
print, including getting out The Truth About Yugoslavia: Why
Working-People Should Oppose Intervention at the beginning of
May, as volunteers race to have it prepared for reprinting.
(See article above.)
Capitalism's World Disorder by Jack Barnes, the newest title published by Pathfinder, went back to press earlier this month. Spurred by a campaign by socialist workers and youth to promote and sell the book, print shop volunteers produced 1,500 in March and another 900 copies in April. Some 2,500 copies in all have been printed and bound in just under six weeks. Orders by Pathfinder Bookstores for Capitalism's World Disorder recently topped 2,000.
Nueva Internacional no. 5, the Spanish-language edition of New International no. 11 featuring "U.S. Imperialism Has Lost the Cold War," is on press and due to be delivered April 30. This new book is a timely complement to the arsenal of socialist publications that will be sold in an eight-week international sales drive that kicks off May 1.
In the last few days, reprints of three pamphlets have been delivered to Pathfinder. These are The 1985-86 Hormel Meat-Packers Strike in Austin, Minnesota; El Manifesto Comunista - the Spanish edition of The Communist Manifesto; and Two Speeches by Malcolm X.
In addition, Pathfinder Was Born with the October Revolution by Mary-Alice Waters, an Education for Socialists publication, is again available after having been out of print for several months.
The following titles are also in production to be delivered this month: Black Music, White Business by Frank Kofsky; Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War by Ernesto Che Guevara; and Cuba for Beginners by Rius.
The delivery schedule for April is another step in an effort organized by the worker-volunteers at Pathfinder's print shop to maintain a monthly rhythm of production that keeps Pathfinder titles in print and available.
This effort has received a considerable assist from contributors to the Capital Fund, a fund launched to underwrite the transformation of Pathfinder's print shop, including the shop's acquisition of state-of-the-art labor- saving machinery to make plates for the presses directly from computer files.
Since the $250,000 appeal for the current stage of the fund was launched just before the April 1-3 Socialist Workers Party convention, $74,900 has been contributed. This includes many contributions of between $1,000 and several thousand, and a few larger donations in the tens of thousands. In addition, workers in several industries have contributed profit-sharing and other "bonuses" that many bosses have implemented as a sweetener to accepting concession contracts.
The $250,000 will finance the reconstruction of the shop's press room, eliminating the wall between the presses that has stymied the productivity of the press crews. This long- postponed project involves upgrading climate and dust controls, installing double doors for the delivery area, improving lighting, and replacing the factory floor - all steps that will improve quality and productivity in printing the political weapons workers need.
To find out how you can make a contribution, write to the Capital Fund Committee, 410 West St., New York, NY 10014.
Peter Thierjung is a member of the Capital Fund Committee and heads up the Pathfinder print shop bindery.