The participants had attended the one-year anniversary celebration of the struggle to win representation by the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) at the Co-Op mine in Huntington, Utah, the day before.

Calero spoke about the recent lawsuit filed by the owners C.W. Mining, also known as the Co-Op mine, against the UMWA, miners involved in the union-organizing struggle, their supporters, and newspapers that have covered the fight.

“Seventeen current and former miners at the Co-Op mine, and 120 individuals and organizations are named in the lawsuit,” he said. “This is an attempt to break off the UMWA and the miners from their supporters.”

Referring to the newspapers also cited for “defamation” for their coverage of the struggle, Calero pointed out, “This is also an attack on freedom of the press and freedom of speech. It’s a serious attack on the political right to campaign for workers’ rights to a union.

“My campaign and the Militant newspaper, are chosen because of our uncompromising stance to tell the truth about this fight for dignity and better working conditions,” said Calero, who has been named as a defendant in the lawsuit as “a leader of the Socialist Workers Party.”

The socialist candidate presented the SWP campaign platform that includes demands aimed at unifying working people internationally, foremost supporting workers’ right to organize unions.

“How would we lure the corporations back, if wages are raised to union scale, or companies are taxed at a higher rate, as your party, or a labor party, would demand?” asked John Fisher, a longshoreman.

Calero pointed to workers’ need to link up with fellow workers abroad as elementary to working-class solidarity needed to beat back the bosses’ attacks and contrasted this stance to the economic nationalism promoted by much of the labor officialdom today.

“We shouldn’t see our interests tied with those of the bosses,” he said. “Tax incentives and money paid to bondholders don’t improve the condition of the working class. It’s a myth that if bosses are given tax breaks it will mean more jobs.

“Capitalists will move when they want to. It’s also a myth that if we make more concessions to them, they will reinvest and hire more workers, or our jobs will be secure. We need to wage an uncompromising fight for the interests of workers and farmers across borders.”

Mark Downs, another longshoreman, commented that diverting energy to “fighting jobs going ‘overseas’ takes the heat off union officials for not leading the necessary struggles here.”

Supporters of Calero and his running mate, Arrin Hawkins, have achieved ballot status in 13 states and the District of Columbia. “Working people, youth, small farmers will have a choice,” Calero said. “There is an alternative in November, an alternative to the Democrats, Republicans, and smaller ‘third parties’,” which function as pressure groups on the two main capitalist parties.

“We campaign with zeal and pride. We do it with those who don’t live in terror, panicking that fascism is around the corner. We discuss what we stand for—in the next 30 days and beyond the elections.”
 
 
Related articles:
‘We stand with workers trying to organize unions’
We support right of oppressed nations to economic development, says socialist in Iowa
Campaigning for SWP slate nets ‘Militant’ subs
Penn. socialists step up campaigning in wake of arson attack
SWP candidate for vice president speaks at Florida NAACP convention
Support SWP ticket in 2004  
 
 
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