Dirk Schwanz
Paris, France
 
 
Colons and pieds noirs
I think it is not correct to use the term colons and pieds noirs synonymously, as is done in the second paragraph of an excerpt from an article from Workers and Farmers Governments Since the Second World War by Robert Chester in the May 28 issue.

After its military victory in 1830, the colonization of Algeria by the French colonial empire consisted of despoilment and expropriation of buildings and the best lands. In 1942 there were 830,000 French or European people living in Algeria. Most were private workers, state workers, or in the middle class. The generic name for them was pieds noirs.

The French settlers in rural areas, most of whom owned between 100 and 15,000 hectares of land, numbered 26,153 in 1930. These colons, also from Europe, were like little latifundists. Colons often fled earlier than the victory of independence in 1962 to reinvest their capital. The pieds noirs, who fled massively to France in 1962, never considered themselves as colons, even if, in their great majority, they were also against the Algerian revolution.

Bleton Claude
Soisy, France
 
 
IAM and protectionism
In the July 2 issue Brian Williams reported on the support by leading officials of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) for the U.S. government's plans to develop and deploy an antiballistic missile system.

In the spring issue of the IAM's journal in Canada, the anti-worker logic of the IAM leadership's protectionist politics was further illustrated by Canadian vice president Dave Ritchie. Rather than criticizing government handouts to aerospace companies, Ritchie argued that "we should use the leverage we have when companies want to send aerospace work overseas. Our governments should tell corporations: 'You want continued subsidies? Well here are the standards that must be met when it comes to workers rights, wages, safety, and health.'"

It was from this protectionist perspective of counterposing the interests of its members to workers in other countries that the IAM in Quebec mobilized its members to join recent protests at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City. It then completely abstained from participating in the annual Montreal May Day march which features workers on strike or in struggle.

Jim Upton
Montreal, Quebec
 
 
U.S., UN, and the Congo
The publication by Pathfinder of the newly reissued pamphlet Revolution in the Congo is welcome indeed, as is the fine review of the new film Lumumba by Brian Williams in the July 23 Militant.

The text of the unscheduled speech by Lumumba at the ceremony officially declaring the independence of the Congo, referred to in the review, can be found in Lumumba Speaks: The Speeches and Writings of Patrice Lumumba 1958-1961. The book is, unfortunately, out of print. The speech is indeed worth "tacking up over your door," as Malcolm X said.

As for the role of the UN, readers of the Militant should consider the candid-- and cynical--remarks of Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in a recent editorial column entitled "95 to 5" as he argues against threats of a U.S. withdrawal from that body: "Then let's stop bellyaching about the U.N., and manipulating our dues, and start taking it seriously for what it is--a global forum that spends 95 percent of its energy endorsing the wars and peacekeeping missions that the U.S. wants endorsed, or taking on the thankless humanitarian missions that the U.S. would like done but doesn't want to do itself. The U.N. actually spends only 5 percent of its time annoying the U.S. Not a bad deal."

Floyd Fowler
Atlanta, Georgia

The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people.

Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.  
 
 
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