By James F. Harrington

As one of the original three members of the current Houston Communist Party, I am very appalled by the recent coup d’etat against our wonderful and thriving club.

Our club, which had humble beginnings, grew into a club with many members.

Over the recent years, the Houston CP has been very active. It has sponsored an exhibition of works of art by Antonio Guerrero, a member of The Cuban Five.

We have marched in support of the Houston janitors. Against the death penalty in Austin. In support of immigrant rights.

Several of our members, myself included, have tirelessly worked on behalf of the rights of the Palestinians.

I am deeply disturbed by the cunning and subversive actions of the leader of this coup.

He is nothing but an opportunist and party destroyer!

For the last seven months, I watched him very closely as he courted our clubs newer and younger members until he he was ready to implement his coup d’etat!

Until the very last minute, he pretended to be a loyal member of our club.

Now that he and his fellow renegade members have their very own officially recognized club, they will all have to tow the line of their masters.

They shall join together in an intertwined Dance of Death with their anti-Communist leadership.

The very same leadership (or lack of) that has gotten rid of the party’s weekly newspaper. That wants to drop the name Communist and Party from the name of the national organization! That wants all its members to support the Imperialist Warmonger Obama with no questions asked.

I shall remain a loyal and devoted member of the Houston Communist Party till my last breath.

I am expecting with great joy, my being suspended by the Webb organization. I shall wear this tribute as a Red Badge of Courage!

Please go to Change.org to sign our petition to overturn the Texas anti-communist law. The link is http://www.change.org/petitions/texas-legislature-overturn-the-anti-communist-law?share_id=RjqwOgUTkUpe=pce  . The petition is entitled “Texas legislature: Overturn the anti-communist law”. You can also suggest that others sign the on-line petition. For more information, go to http://houstoncommunistparty.com/repost-there-is-a-dirty-little-secret-in-texas/

The law prohibits Communists from running for public office in Texas and/or holding a state government job.

Thanks for your support.

Editor’s note:

We in Houston want to express our solidarity with the American Crystal Sugar workers. We demand that the locked out workers be restored to their jobs and that the American Crystal Sugar company make reasonable efforts to negotiate a new contract with these workers. We urge people to support these workers in whatever way they can.

Att’n: Everyone in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (please forward)

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

I’m writing to urge your active solidarity with 1,300 U.S. sugar workers who have been locked out along the Red River valley just south of us for nearly a year. It’s one of the more hidden stories.*

Although the labour movement here is aware of the American Crystal Sugar lockout, we urge added solidarity. This is from our party’s greetings to the Manitoba Federation of Labour convention which wrapped up yesterday**:

American Crystal Sugar workers – Solidarity forever

A heroic struggle is taking place just south of us in N. Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. On August 1 last year, ACS locked out 1,300 workers. Last year, it was the 3rd largest in days-lost of any U.S. labour dispute and this year comprises nearly half all days-lost. If the workers reject the contract offer on Saturday (3rd vote on the same offer), then make a point to visit to their picket line between the border and Grand Forks (route 29).

* * *
Well, over the weekend the sugar workers rejected the offer again!:

Sugar union rejects third offer

Morning Star, June 24, 2012

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/120605

Union members at American Crystal Sugar locked out for nearly a year rejected the company’s contract proposal a third time at the weekend.

Sixty-three per cent of voters opted against the latest offer on a turnout of 82 per cent of the 1,300 union members who have been out of work for nearly a year.

The union said “give-and-take negotiations” and “co-operation” are the only way to get back on track to productivity and profitability.”

It added that the company was not willing to compromise on any issue at the last talks.

The union demands wage and pension increases “significantly above” the final offer of a 17 per cent wage increase over five years.

The company continues to operate with scabs.

* * * *
Wouldn’t it be great to have well-organized meetings up here to hear directly from the sugar workers?

Labour news is important, especially at a time when the unrest among students has a greater chance to spread to the labour movement and beyond.

Solidarity Forever,
Darrell Rankin
Manitoba office, Communist Party of Canada

* * * *
More about the strike

For added info visit:

http://crystalgreed.com/home/
http://bctgmlocal167g.com/  (Workers at Nutty Club in Winnipeg are members of the Bakery Workers, but not this local)
http://mnaflcio.org/news/stand-sugar-workers
http://www.facebook.com/BCTGMLocal167g  (Like this on facebook!)

Via: http://www.peoplesvoice.ca/Pv01ju12.html#JTHEUS

By Darrell Rankin

Do you wonder what the US war machine thinks about the Quebec student protests?

Usually I love it when top imperialists say what they actually think, except when the stakes are high and the ideas threaten actual violence of some sort.
An article by David T. Jones (Allowing student protests to continue threatens Quebec democracy, ca.news.yahoo.com, June 15, 2012) offers a glimpse into the thinking of the US military establishment about the Quebec student protests. Jones is a retired U.S. State Department senior officer who served the U.S. Army Chief of Staff.

Jones had a long career getting the ear of top US military officers and is an author and frequent commentator on US Canada relations. His articles at the American Diplomacy blog cover issues such as the top level of the US general staff, ruptures in NATO, Quebec separatism, and the “good news” of Harper’s election.

He tries to establish that there is a plan in Quebec for “seizure/displacement of power” a union backed coup d’etat that would protect Quebec’s unions, for the wrong reasons. He believes that the unions are corrupt and up to no good, ignoring the actual source of the construction corruption scandal under investigation in Quebec.

In fact Jones presents the tuition struggle as a “red herring.” He says the real “stake” in the struggle is “the legitimacy of Quebec’s governing authority” and “radical students, supported by union funding and presumably organizers, are seeking to force the resignation of the Charest government and early elections.”

His greater worry is that “students elsewhere (may) determine Quebec has provided a `learning experience.'” The common reactionary interest of the corporate ruling class in both Quebec and Washington is fully expressed by Jones, especially against the spread of protest movements that take aim at corporate greed and support democratic aims.

Most alarmingly, he offers free advice to the Charest government: “If you want to end demonstrations/wars, you need overwhelming force with mass arrests, quick trials (no “catch and release” policy), and jail sentences…” Jones is very critical of Charest’s “feckless” efforts.

The article is actually a call or alarm for Washington to help Charest hold on to power. Either Jones is a loony tunes to whom no one will listen, or we should expect that the US will work openly or secretly to protect the incompetent Charest government.

Charest is actually following much of Jones’ advice, using truncheons, mass arrests and lethal plastic bullets. Jones’ extreme reactionary views require us to increase our efforts to develop another kind of international class solidarity in support of the students and unions fighting for a just society in Quebec, and to say to the U.S.: Hands off Quebec!

(The above article is from the July 1-31, 2012, issue of People’s Voice, Canada’s leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers – $45 US per year; other overseas readers – $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People’s Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

By James Thompson

HOUSTON – Houston janitors organized by the Service Employee International Union have been involved in a contract dispute since their contract expired on May 31. They have held a number of events to make the public aware of their plight. They are seeking wages of $10 an hour, whereas they are currently being paid a top wage of $8.35 an hour.

During a demonstration near the Galleria on July 11, a union organizer from California, Leticia Salcedo, was arrested and spent the night in jail according to the Houston Chronicle. About 400 janitors and their supporters from the community and other unions participated in the event to show solidarity with the striking janitors.

Salcedo was previously arrested in a similar event about a month ago when she attempted to assist a worker that had been knocked to the ground by the mounted police.

The janitors went on strike on July 10 and about 250 of them walked off the job because of failed negotiations between SEIU and building contractors.

On Saturday, July 14, nearly 300 people marched outside the Galleria in spite of rainstorms and hot weather. The called the event “The Children’s Day of Action” and it was held on the fifth day of the janitors’ strike. They were supported by the Houston Peace and Justice Center and the AFL-CIO as well as other community organizations. About 60 children held banners and chanted “Si se peude” or “Yes, we can.”

These brave people are fighting for their right to a living wage and for a better future for all.

Janitors and their supporters fight for a better future for all

Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2012

From: (A CP of Canada provincial office)
Subject: Something has hit the fan in Houston

To (provincial) comrades,

As indicated in the below important blog links, the ideological crisis seems to be intensifying in the CPUSA. This is consistent with our party’s analysis and criticism of the CPUSA leadership adopted by our Central Cte meeting last year in August.

Probably the most important article; the comments at the article’s end about other mass expulsions are illuminating:
http://houstoncommunistparty.com/will-the-real-communist-party-please-stand-up/

http://houstoncommunistparty.com/some-thoughts-on-recent-cpusa-activities-in-houston/
http://houstoncommunistparty.com/letter-to-the-editor-regarding-the-dropping-of-a-local-member-of-the-party/
http://houstoncommunistparty.com/letter-to-the-editor-from-north-carolina-about-expulsion-of-party-members/

(Name omitted)

* * *
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2012
From:
Subject: Re: Something has hit the fan in Houston

Thx re the info below (reply omitted). I am certain the (CPUSA leadership is) fighting from a position of weakness – thus their desperate measures. Either: they are evaluating they’ve lost the majority of membership support (which forced Hewison’s actions) or 2) they don’t want anything to stand in the way of their (electoral tactic).

Angelo D’Angelo’s comment to the article “Will the real CP please stand up” is from New York, one of the first public recountings of the story there, and indicates growing cohesion and communication among anti-revisionist forces. A sad story from New York.

These top-down measures will never succeed in a revolutionary party.