Changing of the guard?
Recall vote solves nothing for workers
By Adrian Garcia
Los Angeles
The recall election results for California
governor can be described as a changing of the guard--but only
insofar as the person placed in charge of the capitalist
class's machinery of oppression is concerned. The profit
system, with its egregious practices, will continue to have a
stranglehold over working people.
The ruling class in the state, as well as throughout the
country, is diligently working at undermining the hard-won
gains working people have acquired through struggle over the
past 100 years. And that is going to continue to fuel
resistance.
For while action star Arnold Schwar zen egger, a Republican,
may have tro unced incumbent Gov. Gray Davis with 48 percent of
the votes in a race with 130 candidates, this was by no means a
mandate to the bosses in the state to continue with their
reactionary agenda of chopping away at jobs, healthcare,
education and housing.
The people of California are simply reacting to the ruling
class's persistent assault on their livelihood. California, the
richest state in the union and the sixth-strongest economy in
the world, currently faces a $38-billion deficit. The
politicians have been implementing severe budget cuts that will
continue to have serious repercussions for the working people
of the state.
Workers are in a fierce struggle
As always, the working class is expected to make the
sacrifices necessary to weather the storm. The gap between rich
and poor is expanding exponentially. The wealthy are relieved
of taxes by both state and federal governments at the same time
that they are given free rein to exploit the workers. Workers
throughout the state of California are in a fierce struggle to
defend what little they possess.
For example, grocery workers in southern California voted on
Oct. 11 to go on strike against the four biggest grocery
chains--Vons, Pavilions, Albertsons and Ralphs. They are up
against bosses who threaten to cut their health benefits and
salaries. Under the bosses' terms, workers would be forced to
pay for one half of their health coverage and be expected to
wait two years before being considered for a raise.
The striking workers are receiving overwhelming support from
the people.
The United Teachers of Los Angeles are in contract talks
with the Los Angeles Unified School District and are attempting
to prevent a cut in their health benefits. Public elementary
schools have been given notice that funds for supplies have
been exhausted; some schools have even received bills for money
already spent.
Tuition hikes at public colleges and universities have been
imposed two years running, seriously jeopardizing educational
prospects for working class students.
Metropolitan Transit Authority mechanics in Los Angeles have
gone on strike over healthcare disputes. Their fellow bus
drivers are standing with them in their struggle, refusing to
cross their picket lines.
Over a dozen clinics serving predominantly working people of
color have been summarily closed within the past year, with
little hope of ever opening again.
This crisis in California's economy reflects a crisis
throughout the entire United States. The Los Angeles Times
reported in its Oct. 12 issue that "public universities around
the nation remain so pinched for funds that they are cutting
deeply into their academic offerings." Workers in every state
are losing jobs at an alarming rate, while those who are
working are fighting to maintain what they have. Meanwhile, the
bosses are starting to report record profits again.
The poverty level for children, specifically those of color,
continues to rise year by year and millions do not possess
health insurance.
Bipartisan deception
The outgoing governor, Gray Davis, became extremely
unpopular because he personified the corporate-driven greedy
interests of a ruling class that has been instituting cutbacks
and jeopardizing the welfare of working people. While Calif
ornians who voted for Schwarzen egger responded to his campaign
promises to bring change, the chopping away of workers' gains
will proceed unabated under a new face.
Capitalist politics manipulates images and personalities to
deceive the people into believing that changing from a Democrat
to a Republican or vice versa may alleviate the hardships they
are experiencing. A very expensive media
campaign--Schwarzenegger bought more than $10 million worth of
television ads--allowed an admitted sexual predator to be
forgiven for his past "indiscretions" and be seen as a wealthy,
white male who has changed his ways and will now champion the
cause of the people.
On Oct. 9 Schwarzenegger presented his "politically diverse
transition team" (Washington Post, Oct. 10). It includes George
Shultz, former secretary of state under President Ronald
Reagan, and San Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown, a Dem ocrat,
plus one of the "Terminator's" former directors, Ivan Reitman.
It's an old bourgeois tactic--attempting to appease the
concerns of the working people by promoting bipartisanship in
the government. It will prove to be a sham when a people's
movement asks for what it is entitled to.
It is imperative to mention that the Green Party's candidate
for governor, Peter Camejo, garnered unprecedented support.
After campaigning on a platform of taxing the wealthy and the
corporations, instituting universal healthcare, and standing
against the colonialization of Iraq, Camejo came in fourth with
18,845 votes.
Proposition 54, the so-called "Racial Privacy Initiative,"
was soundly defeated by a vote of 63 percent to 37 percent.
Prop 54 was a veiled racist attempt to undermine civil rights
and would have prevented government agencies from collecting
race-based information or statistics throughout California. It
would have deprived Californians of access to vital
information, such as whether there was racial profiling by
police, or that Black children are five times more likely than
white children to suffer from childhood lead poisoning.
Among the proponents of the initiative was Ward Connerly,
who was influential in outlawing state-supported affirmative
action programs under Proposition 209. Connerly and his cronies
believed that Californians were naive enough to fall prey to
their reactionary scheme. They were mistaken.
The capitalist bosses are also mistaken if they believe that
presenting a false hope in a gubernatorial candidate will quell
the displeasure and outrage of the workers as they unite to
fight the force that oppresses them.
Reprinted from the Oct. 23, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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Email: ww@workers.org
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