No. 37, May-June 2014  Table of Contents Selected articles linked Click on image to left for pdf version of complete issue.

Get the Hell Out of Afghanistan and Iraq – And Stay Out! From Ukraine to Middle East: U.S. Imperialism Strikes Out Instigating Ethnic/Religious War in the Name of “Democracy” After the February coup d’état that installed a Ukrainian nationalist/fascist junta in Kiev, its U.S. and European backers were thrown for a loop by Russia’s swift and bloodless takeover of Crimea, to the applause of the local population. Kiev’s military offensive against pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine provoked massive popular opposition. Now with Ukraine coming apart at the seams, suddenly Iraq appears to be disintegrating as well, as the sectarian Shiite regime loses ground to Sunni Islamist jihadis. The quagmire in which Washington finds itself is of its own making: U.S. rulers have pursued a bipartisan policy of promoting ethnic and religious war in order to maintain world domination. The arrogant Yankee imperialists sowed the wind, and now they are reaping the whirlwind. In Ukraine, internationalist communists recognize the right to autonomy and self-determination of the Russian-speaking regions and defend the anti-Kiev rebellion while opposing both Ukrainian and Russian nationalism. In Iraq, U.S. troops must be opposed while supporting none of the contending factions. Everywhere we fight for socialist revolution. From Ukraine to Middle East: U.S. Imperialism Strikes Out (20 June 2014)

Organize Workers Defense Committees to Defend the Favelas, Protests and Social Movements Brazil: No to the World Cup of Repression! On the 50th anniversary of the civilian/military coup that overthrew the government of Jango Goulanrt and began 21 years of bloody military dictatorship, of torture, of disappearances, of epression against the working people and poor, several of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro were subjected to occupation. This outright war against the most impoverished neighborhoods is intimately linked to the preparations for the World Cup of soccer, beginning on June 12, when the local, state and federal governments, and the bourgeoisie of Brazil as a whole, want to put the “Marvelous City” (nickname for Rio de Janeiro) on display. Contrary to the claims of many reformist leftists, this escalation of repression is not fascism but bourgeois democracy, which was born bathed in the blood of blacks, indigenous peoples and the poor. The Comitê de Luta Classista (Class Struggle Committee) and the Liga Quarta-Internacionalista do Brasil (Fourth Internationalist League of Brazil) call on the entire workers movement to mobilize its forces against the bourgeoisie’s World Cup of Repression. In April, the state-wide unions of teachers (SEPE-RJ) and health workers (SINDSPREV-RJ) approved motions put forward by the CLC calling to  “Drive out the pro-imperialist occupation troops from Haiti, the favelas and social movements” and to build workers defense committees to unite the favela with the factory and the protests in the streets. Brazil: No to the World Cup of Repression! (May 2014)

Don’t Fall for Democrats’ Campaign Promises Fight Low-Wage Slavery, Mobilize Workers’ Power For Class Struggle Against Capitalism, Build a Revolutionary Workers Party! We are well into the sixth year of a capitalist economic crisis with no end in sight. The bosses are making money hand over fist, while we the workers pay the price – low-wage workers most of all. The fight against poverty wages must be the fight of all working people – and it must be waged first and foremost against the Democratic Party. In recent months there has been a groundswell of calls to raise the minimum wage to $15. That is still a poverty wage. Beyond the numbers, the rulers will use every trick in the book to whittle it down, delay it and load it up with all sorts of exemptions. Yet the various campaigns all focus on pressuring the Democrats. Even when led by ostensible socialists, they are basically electoral gimmicks. The “strikes” that have been called are purely symbolic. What’s needed isn’t appeals to “elected officials” but to mobilize union power. A class-struggle fight against poverty wages would seek to build fighting unions, beginning with assemblies of low-wage workers. It would insist on mass mobilization and independence from the Democrats and all capitalist parties and politicians, and would not limit itself to narrow “bread-and-butter” economic demands. Fight Low-Wage Slavery, Mobilize Workers’ Power (June 2014) Seattle’s “$15 Later” Law – A “Historic Victory”? Hardly (June 2014)

Fascist Pogrom in Odessa, And the Aftermath The protests that began last November in Kiev were soon dominated by right-wing Ukrainian ethnic nationalists and outright fascists. While Western governments and many on the left hailed the “democratic” uprising, we and others warned that the fascist/nationalist coup regime backed by the U.S. and European imperialists was a threat to the Russian-speaking population in East and South Ukraine. On May 2 came the indelible, horrific proof. By official count, at least 48 people were murdered in the heinous massacre and hundreds injured. The stage was set as paramilitary squads were brought in for a “march for Ukrainian unity.” This was a deliberate provocation by the Kiev junta. After clashes with anti-Kiev militia members, neo-Nazis of Pravy Sektor along with other fascists burned tents of pro-Russian protesters, then set fire with gasoline bombs to the House of Trade Unions where they had fled for safety. The Ukrainian nationalist crowd sang the national anthem as they watched dozens being incinerated. Police did nothing to stop this, then arrested the survivors of this pogrom. The Odessa massacre of May 2 is the ugly face of Ukrainian fascism backed by state power. Fascist Pogrom in Odessa, And the Aftermath” (May 2014)

Victory to the Platinum Miners! Elections and Miners Strike: South African Popular Front in Crisis For a Black-Centered Workers Government! For a Revolutionary Workers Party with a Trotskyist Program! South Africa heads to the polls May 7 in the most important election since the 1994 vote which marked the formal end of the apartheid system of white minority rule. The cold-blooded massacre of 34 platinum miners in Marikana in August 2012 has galvanized opposition to the Tripartite Alliance. Last December, the National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA), with 340,000 members the largest union in South Africa, denounced the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) as nakedly pro-capitalist and came out against electoral support to the ANC or any other political party in the 2014 elections. Meanwhile, 70,000 platinum miners are in the fourth month of a bitter strike not only against the companies but also against the policies of the ANC government which has backed the mine bosses to the hilt. The intersection of these two events could pose an explosive challenge to capitalist rule in the economic powerhouse of Africa: the non-white masses are fed up with the black capitalist regime which has kept them mired in poverty, while the corrupt rulers have no answers but bloody repression. Yet a key ingredient is lacking to provide a positive outcome to this crisis: revolutionary leadership. Elections and Miners Strike: South African Popular Front in Crisis (30 April 2014)

U.S./European Union Anti-Russia Drive Backfires Self-Determination for Crimea – Oppose Sanctions! Down with the Imperialist-Backed Fascist/Nationalist Coup in Ukraine! Against Russian and Ukrainian Nationalism and Anti-Semitism – For Workers Revolution! Since late November, Ukraine has been convulsed by a right-wing nationalist and pro-imperialist mobilization culminating in a coup d’état that drove out the widely despised president Viktor Yanukovich and has split the country in two. Within hours of seizing power, the usurpers decreed that Russian would no longer be accepted as an official language, enraging the Russian-speaking east and south of the country. The mobilization, falsely portrayed in the Western media as nothing but “peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators,” from early on was led by ethnic nationalists, fascists and outright Nazis. The U.S. and European Union were up to their necks in financing and backing these sinister putschists. Russian president Vladimir Putin correctly saw the coup as a blow aimed at Moscow by the Western imperialists, and struck back swiftly, taking over the Crimean peninsula, home of the Russian Black Sea fleet, to the applause of the majority Russian local population. Now Washington and the E.U. are sputtering, with the U.S. threatening economic sanctions and worse. The League for the Fourth International calls for self-determination for Crimea and would oppose any attempt to prevent or undermine that, whether imperialist sanctions, military threats or cutting off vital supplies. We demand that the U.S./EU/NATO imperialists get out of Ukraine and call for close collaboration by Ukrainian and Russian workers fighting for international socialist revolution. Down with the Imperialist-Backed Fascist/Nationalist Coup in Ukraine! (12 March 2014)

Labor Activist Faces Jail for Protesting “Right to Work” Union-Busting Drop the Charges Against Wyatt McMinn Now! Join the Wyatt McMinn Defense Campaign On September 5, Wyatt McMinn, vice president of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) Local 10 in the Portland, OR-Vancouver, WA area and a longtime fighter for the cause of workers’ rights and oppressed people, was arrested while taking part in a labor protest at a Vancouver meeting of the Freedom Foundation, an anti-union lobbying outfit that is putting “right to work” initiatives on the ballot in Oregon and Washington this year. Wyatt goes on trial June 27. Already a number of unions, labor councils and defenders of labor in the area and nationally have taken up his defense. Find out more about this important case and join the Wyatt McMinn defense campaign. Drop the Charges Against Wyatt McMinn Now! (January 2014)

Obama’s Back-to-Work Order Is a Trap SEPTA Workers: Strike Together to Win!  Just past midnight on Saturday, June 14, over 400 unionized workers of the Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority walked off their jobs, following four years of fruitless contract negotiations with the SEPTA administration. But within a matter of hours, the Democratic administration of Barack Obama issued an executive order forcing the strikers back to work and barring IBEW and BLET from striking for 240 days. Obama’s back-to-work order was a body blow to SEPTA unions. Yet it was hailed by the leadership of the striking unions (BLET/Teamsters and IBEW). The union tops had repeatedly called for increased government intervention in negotiations with SEPTA. SEPTA workers have enormous power in their hands, but they are stymied by a leadership that divides the workers and looks to the bosses’ government rather than the power of workers solidarity. To overcome this, Philly mass transit workers should elect a joint strike committee and prepare for industrial-strength action against SEPTA and the federal straightjacket. SEPTA Workers: Strike Together to Win! (June 2014)

May Day: For Workers Action to Stop Deportations Full Citizenship Rights for All Immigrants!

Solidarity Pickets Back Locked-Out ILWU Workers in Vancouver, WA

CLASS STRUGGLE EDUCATION WORKERS VOTE NO! on Mike Mulgrew’s Sucker-Bait Contract

¡Acciones obreras para detener las deportaciones! ¡Plenos derechos de ciudadanía para todos los inmigrantes!

¡No se dejen engañar por las promesas de campaña de los demócratas! '¡Luchar contra la esclavitud de bajos salarios! ¡Movilizar el poder obrero!