Union Leader Speaks

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...Central America confrontation tion, and formed an opposition slate. The group called itself the Unity Committee of Municipal and Waterworks Workers and designed a symbol-a water faucet, a pick, a broom, and a wheelbarrow on a shield under the slogan "Work, Honor, Dignity."

The platform of the group called for a big wage increase. Wages average about 150 quetzales per month, which is just bare subsistence. The Unity Committee called for a raise to 240 quetzales per month. Other demands included weekly rather than biweekly paydays, transportation to work in the city from the suburbs where 80 percent of the workers live, a decent retirement plan, rehiring of those unfairly fired, and adherence to the city's personnel policy.

"It was a year-and-a-half job to win the election? says Alfonso Loareas. Knowing they would have to overcome the skepticism of the members, who tended not to vote after 10 years of the officers playing musical chairs, and that they would have to deal with the cynicism of the incumbents, who they believed were not above stuffing the ballot box, they created a broad representative committee to get out the vote. Shortly before the election, the mayor gave a five-cent-an-hour raise to help the incumbents. But when the election day came in February, the reform slate won by a vote of 663 to 338, out of 3000 dues-paying members.

The group took office in June and has begun to work to straighten out the union. They are settling unresolved grievances and taking on the job of organizing "the ties"-the white collar workers in the civic center buildings. Right now the union represents less than half of the 7000 city workers. "The problem with the workers who wear ties" says Leonardo Marroquin Mendez, the secretary of organization, propaganda, and culture, "is that they think of themselves as professionals rather than as workers."

The union hopes to be able to win them over.

Facing a frightening future This new slate of union officers may face problems of repression in the future. Even the former union leadership, which had a close working relationship with the previous mayors of Guatemala and was considered opportunist by the new leadership, had its martyrs. The general secretary, Necy The general secretary and spokesperson for the members of STEGAC, the Coca-Cola bottling plant union, is Rodolfo Robles, a 35-year-old driversalesman who has worked at the factory for five years.

Before coming to the Coca-Cola plant, Robles had worked as a salesman in a print shop and a bakery and had no union experience. But since coming to the factory, he has become the chief union officer and one of the leaders of the most important labor movement to have arisen in his country for many years. In a country where union leaders are frequently murdered by the military government, that is a big responsibility and a frightening task. Several officials of his union have been murdered.

The intimidation is constant. "We're always getting threatening telephone calls" says Robles. It caused his wife to suffer a breakdown. "She had to quit working and she was sick for three months."

They have three children, girls ages eight and 14 and a boy age 12. "They're very concientizados" says Robles, very conscious, very politically aware.

"Fridays my boy usually comes and spends the weekends with me" says Robles, in the plant which has been occupied by the workers since the company threatened to close it last February.

Though he is the top officer in the union today, Robles has no intention of running for office again when elections take place in February of 1985. "We're of the idea here" he said, "that you have to change union leadership frequently. We have labor education classes so that we'll have people who are prepared to be union leaders in the future. We need new people with new ideas so that we don't become stagnant."

And Robles has other ambitions. While working at Coca-Cola he has also been studying law at the University of San Carlos, although, he says, "this year I haven't been able to attend."

"But I still want to become a lawyer; there really are no labor lawyers here."

The reason there are no labor lawyers is that they are assassinated by the tary government.

"When you go back, Robles says, "tell them that we thank the North American labor unions, the foreign companeros, and the journalists who (continued from page 1: “Antiwar conference to meet in Ohio”) demobilization of the opposition forces.

The strategy of supporting the Democratic Party is counterproductive . It not only fails to stop U.S. aid to El Salvador, but cannot even stop the dramatic increase in the level of that aid. The defection of Clarence Long, a liberal opponent of Reagan's Central America policy, to Reagan's side during the vote on additional aid to the Salvadoran government, demonstrates the shallowness of the convictions of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

The opposition of these Democrats is based on fear of the consequences of a U.S. invasion of Central America. They have no attachment to the right of the Salvadoran people to self-determination, nor do they support the social and economic objectives of the revolution. Neither lobbying nor electing these Democrats will change the course of the government's policies.

One hopeful sign of a change in strategy among antiwar forces is the Emergency National Conference Against U.S. Intervention in Central America to be held in Cleveland on September 14-16. Its initial sponsors, mostly from the labor movement, have ship from labor, peace, and solidarity continued to attract broader sponsorSOCIALIST ACTION have helped us.

"The union movement of Guatemala is united, and we are sure that with the creation of CONUS, labor unionism will have the same force that it had in former years." activists. The conference represents an opportunity for antiwar activists to link up with unionists to help forge a more powerful anti-intervention movement. Socialist Action urges all antiwar, labor, and civil rights activists and organizations to support and attend this conference.

September 11 marks the 11th anniversary of the coup that brought the bloody dictatorship of Pinochet to power in Chile.

Today the Chilean masses are rising up against the ruthless regime, demanding an end to the disappearances of over 2500 people, to the death and torture of over 50,000 people, and to the devastation of the nation's resources at the hands of the capitalists and the International Monetary Fund. "Down with Pinochet," and "Bread, Jobs, Justice, and Democracy" are the slogans expressing the hopes of millions of Chilean working people.

To commemorate the struggle of the Chilean masses under Pinochet and to demand "Democracy Now.,", a number of Chilean solidarity committees in the United States are organizing activities on September 11.

In San Francisco, a number of Chilean and Central America solidarity committees, local unions, and church groups have organized one such event to be held September 11 at the Mission Cultural Center, 2868 Mission St., at 5 p.m. The event will include food, music, and a political rally.

SEPTEMBER 1984

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Solidarity with Chilean people