Our new PLP study-action group of young people and teachers visited striking Stella D’Oro workers (see page 3) who are showing amazing strength and resilience against bosses’ sharp attacks on their livelihoods. This was the first time several of our leafletters, put forward communist politics publicly. “It made me come out of my shell,” said one youth, whose mother had encouraged her to “be more independent” and “be a leader.”

When a scab exited the factory, we confronted him in a heated exchange and refused to back down when he physically threatened us. The workers rose up in one powerful chorus when he dismissively said, “I didn’t come here to take anyone’s job.”

Bosses try to convince scabs they’re just taking care of themselves, but scabbing is a vicious and divisive attack on a united working class fighting for its needs.

Our best conversations involved talking to workers about communism. When we first asked these friendly workers what they thought of our politics, a few said, “Oh, we don’t want communism.” But as we explored what a communist society really means, and showed how the old communist movement made fatal mistakes in building socialism instead of communism, we made progress, showing them that they’ve been lied to by the bosses’ educational system and media, and that PLP is a serious party offering a well-thought-out alternative.

These were important steps in building our local collective, struggling with young people to lead in the class struggle. The bosses’ schools offer these youth “public service” opportunities which are deceptive and insult their potential as leaders while ultimately propping up capitalism.

We are struggling with these young people to immerse themselves in the bosses’ mass organizations while simultaneously emphasizing that only a revolutionary communist movement can provide true leadership opportunities to build a mass movement for their class, for the interests of workers worldwide.

Red Students and Teachers