The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 79/No. 15      April 27, 2015

 
(front page)
‘Militant’ seeks 2,000
new readers, $115,000

 
BY EMMA JOHNSON  
Militant
supporters around the world kicked off the seven-week international subscription and fund drive April 11 with a goal of winning 2,000 new and renewing readers by June 2 and raising $115,000 to cover the costs of putting out the paper. Subscribers can also take advantage of a special offer to get any book on revolutionary, working-class politics published by Pathfinder Press for 50 percent off.

Introducing the Militant to workers door to door in big cities, small towns and farm communities is the bedrock of the drive. Supporters will also bring the paper with them as they join picket lines, demonstrations against police brutality and other social struggles. Candidates in local elections and members of the Socialist Workers Party and Communist Leagues in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom will join debates and discussions at political events.

Militant supporters in Chicago decided to make the first week of the drive a target week. They knocked on doors in Whiting, Indiana, April 12 after joining the picket lines at the BP refinery where 1,100 members of United Steelworkers Local 7-1 have been on strike since Feb. 8.

“I know why they are on strike,” said Donna Kusbel in Whiting. “My husband died in the refinery in an explosion in October 1988. The company cut corners on safety.” She was one of four people there who got a subscription.

In Chicago, Militant supporters also set up a table at the April 9-12 national conference of MEChA, a Chicano student organization. Part of the conference was a march to a local McDonald’s as part of the fight for $15 and a union.

Five conference participants signed up for subscriptions and four bought the Spanish-language edition of Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power at half price (see ad).

The Militant Fighting Fund runs the same seven weeks as the subscription drive. Contributions to the fund are key to putting the paper out, covering printing, shipping, rent, utilities and up-keep of the offices. The fund also helps underwrite the special introductory subscription offer of $5 for 12 weeks.

“We got a $20 donation from one of my co-workers when he attended his first Militant Labor Forum,” reported Katy LeRougetel from Calgary, Alberta, April 13. Forums are weekly events in most cities where the Socialist Workers Party and Communist Leagues have meeting halls. “We were showing a video on Cuba’s internationalist aid to victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine.”

Supporters of the Communist League candidates in the May 7 elections in the United Kingdom went door to door in London and Manchester last weekend.

Many workers in Dagenham in east London know about the fight of garbage truck drivers there against wage cuts of £1,000 ($1,470) a year and a 50 percent cut in the time allowed for safety checks on their trucks.

“I support the drivers’ action,” Joanne Maloney told Jonathan Silberman, Communist League candidate in the national elections, as she signed up. “My husband was made redundant, along with 1,000 others, when the plant he worked at closed down. He’s been unemployed since.”

Seven people bought subscriptions in Newton Heath, a working-class neighborhood in Manchester April 11-12.

Andrés Mendoza, the Communist League candidate for Manchester City Council, met Yvonne Jones, a pharmaceutical worker. She told Mendoza she didn’t agree that British and foreign-born workers had common interests.

“You can’t put 10 people in a five-seat car,” Jones said. “We only live on a small island. This government is putting foreign people first.”

“The rulers want us fighting each other, but we need to learn how to unite in struggle,” Mendoza responded.

Jones decided to subscribe. She said she liked the fact that the Militant covers Pussy Riot, the Russian performers who were imprisoned for protesting the Vladimir Putin regime.

We call on readers to join in efforts to reach out broadly with the socialist newsweekly and to send a generous contribution to the fund. Contact a distributor listed on page 8. And send us reports on your experiences.
 
 
Related articles:
Sign up 2,000 subscribers April 11 – June 2 (chart)
Militant Fighting Fund April 11 – June 2 (chart)
 
 
 
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