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    Vol.63/No.4           February 1, 1999 
 
 
Workers Involved In Fights In North Carolina Pick Up The `Militant'  

BY DAN FEIN
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - Two Militant supporters from Atlanta and one from Washington D.C. met here over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend to visit working people in the area involved in struggle.

We spent a number of hours January 16-17 on the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 850 picket line at Continental General Tire in Charlotte. Seven strikers bought the Militant, in part due to the coverage on the Black farmers' lawsuit against racist discrimination and the Steelworkers strike at Titan Tire.

On January 17 the team sold to workers at the US Airways hangar at the Charlotte airport. International Association of Machinists (IAM) members there have been without a contract for more than three years. Among other articles we pointed to the article in the Militant entitled "How should militant workers describe AMFA?" No papers were sold.

The next day, we sold 37 Militants and 3 subscriptions. The day started in Kannapolis, North Carolina, at the huge Fieldcrest/Cannon textile mill complex. Workers there have attempted several times to organize a union at this plant. The most recent vote on whether to join the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UFCW) failed in 1997. Thirteen mill workers picked up the Militant.

Twenty participants at the Martin Luther King Day parade in Charlotte bought copies of the paper later that morning.

Continental General strikers receive their $110 weekly strike checks on Mondays at the USWA Local 850 union hall. The hall was full of strikers getting their checks and eating lunch, when we arrived. Some strikers recognized the Militant and team members from past visits, and were anxious to read the past Militant coverage of their strike We sold three subs and four copies of the Militant to workers at the union hall.

Dan Fein is a member of UFCW Local 1996.
 
 
 
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