US anti-war actions
-IN THE CONTEXT of the foundering of the Reagan administration and its policies, the April 25 demonstrations in Washington DC and San Francisco against US intervention in Central America and apartheid will be a key test of the potential of the mass movement to take advantage of the decline of Reaganism.
The call for the Washington demon. stration was issued by 24 international union presidents and 50 religious leaders. That is reportedly the largest number of labor officials yet to come out against the interventionist policies of the Reagan administration. In New York, the decisive area for the Washington DC demonstration, one of the city's largest unions, District Council 37 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has endorsed the action and is reportedly actively building it.
District Council 37 has over 12,500 members and over 50 branches, including hospital, school aid, park, library, clerical, court, construction, custodial and technical workers. Some 55 per cent of its membership is Black, and it includes many women activists.
In San Francisco, the demonstration is being backed by the city's Labour Council. By the end of March, six AFL-CIO central labor councils in Northern California had endorsed the action. At the same time, in southern California, more than 100 organizations, religious groups and unions had endorsed it.
In the most recent period, the US has also seen a strong revival of protest activity on the campus, mainly around the issue of apartheid. Students are reportedly playing a decisive role in the building of the April 25 actions.
It is important for the international workers' and revolutionary movement to take a close look at these demonstrations and not to be misled by the accounts that come directly or indirectly from the US capitalist press. Working people struggling against oppression and exploitation everywhere have a big stake in them.
International Viewpoint 20 April 1987
EDITORIAL/WEST GERMANY