Re: Stop RWL Gangsterism!

[iwp.ilo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (CEP )]

You(Workers Voice) wrote:
>
>Stop RWL Gangsterism!
>
>Statement by Workers' Voice (U.S.)
>20 February 1996
>
>
    Carlos:

    While the incidents you describe are certainly regretable, if they
    are true, do not constitute a good enough reason for your
    assesment that the RWL is an anti-working class organization.

    It is embarrasing to read that you make charges without any
    supporting evidence, except in the case of Kinko's incident
    (an screaming match?).

    I'm particularly disturbed by the fact that your group and the RWL
    are apparently in a private little war to steal some supporters
    away from each other.  You, and the RWL, are embarrasing yourselves
    and the name of trotskyism. I can't believe this degree of
    sectarianism!

    You(Workers Voice) wrote:

 Over the years the RWL has attempted, with some success, to put
>at least 15-20 of its members into mental hospitals -- most in the
>last five years. These comrades were disproportionately from working
>class backgrounds. Former members of the RWL can corroborate these
>numbers with chilling testimony

    Carlos:

    What are the proof of this? Please, names, incidents, independent
    sources to proof this,etc  This is unbelievable!!!!!!




>     The following letter was sent from the National Committee of
>Workers' Voice (U.S.) [WoVo] to the "Central Committee" of the
>Revolutionary Workers League/U.S., in protest over the actions of the
>RWL's National Chair, Leland S.
>     The letter is fairly self-explanatory as to the events of 29
>January. But further background is needed. Over the past few years,
>the RWL has undertaken a gangsterist turn in relation to other left
>organizations. Two previous examples stand out:
>
>     o In January 1994, comrades who are now members of WoVo found
>out that the RWL had been stealing the private mail of another RWLer
>who was in opposition to the leadership at that time. When confronted
>on the issue, the RWL accused these comrades of "eavesdropping" to
>find out about the theft.
>     o A short time later, a member of the RWL, John B., physically
>threatened the same comrade who confronted him about the theft.
>Understanding the physical disparity makes this threat even more
>appalling.
>
>     These two examples were the opening shots in a public campaign
>of thuggery undertaken by the RWL leadership against oppositionists
>and the left.
>     But the seeds for these kinds of actions were planted long ago.
>     The RWL leadership has been notorious for its psychological
>torture of comrades who express an independent thought. The regime of
>the RWL made regular practice of locking up comrades in mental
>institutions! Most of the time, these comrades were known internally
>for their ability to think independently and their willingness to
>stand up against Leland, Shanta and the rest of the RWL PC.
>.
>     Also, the RWL is infamous for its treatment of young, working-
>class comrades -- particularly women and Black comrades. Since its
>inception in 1981 (and before!), dozens of comrades have been driven
>out of the RWL -- and out of revolutionary politics -- by the
>petty-bourgeois arrogance, racism, sexism and psychological
>manipulation of the RWL.
>     Comrades who wanted to develop theoretically were told to "stop
>hiding behind their intellectualism" and build NWROC. Instead of
>developing leaders for the revolution, the RWL destroyed comrades
>that didn't agree with the "natural order of things."
>     These examples show how the ground work has been laid. The
>internal regime of intimidation has turned into an external practice
>of gangsterism.
>     We call on all revolutionary, left and progressive organizations
>to condemn the latest actions of the RWL. Their gangsterism and
>red-baiting are not the actions of Marxists, but of the arrogant,
>self-serving petty-bourgeoisie, oblivious to the realities of life in
>the working class.
>     WoVo will be publishing a lengthy analysis of the political
>degeneration of the RWL, which shows how an organization can go from
>socialist revolution to gangsterist thuggery.
>
>====================
>
>31 January 1996
>
>To:  Central Committee,
>     Revolutionary Workers League
>     Detroit MI
>     USA
>
>Re:  Recent actions of RWL National Chair Leland S.
>
>Comrades;
>     On 29 January 1996, RWL National Chair Leland S. and RWL PC
>member Luke M. entered the Kinko's Copy Center in Detroit to send a
>facsimile transmission and "pick up" office supplies. While there,
>Leland politically assailed a Kinko's employee regarding political
>issues, in a voice loud enough to be heard throughout the store. This
>employee is a political supporter of Workers' Voice.
>     Comrade Sayles has recently been hired at Kinko's and had
>obviously not informed his co-workers that he was a revolutionary
>Marxist. Your comrade's actions potentially jeopardized his
>employment by "outing" him politically at work. Your comrade's
>actions, while in line with your sectarianism and anti-working class
>arrogance, are a serious threat to the livelihood of a young
>working-class militant. When two National Committee members of
>Workers' Voice phoned Leland S. that evening, he had the gall to
>flatly deny anything ever happened, even though several of Sayles'
>co-workers can confirm his actions!
>     We in Workers' Voice recognize this event as a logical extension
>of anti-working class actions evident throughout the history of the
>RWL -- most glaringly displayed when a young sympathizer of the RWL
>yelled "Fuck the workers!" before an RWL study and was not
>politically challenged by RWL members not in opposition.
>     We recognize clearly your path. From theft of mail and physical
>intimidation, to threatening the job of a revolutionary, the RWL's
>petty-bourgeois method is coming to full fruition. What started with
>isolated events has flourished into a political method.
>     The actions of your National Chair, the direct representative of
>your organization and your leadership, are reminiscent of the
>Stalinists' gangsterism against the fledgling Trotskyist movement.
>They are reminiscent of the actions of right-wing McCarthyites during
>the 1940s and 1950s. If our comrade wasn't aware of Leland S.'s role
>in the RWL, he would have guessed that -- given his actions -- he was
>some kind of reactionary anti-communist or scab looking to get a
>"commie" fired.
>     The RWL knows our address; they know our comrades. Leland could
>have just as easily written a letter or made a phone call if he had
>wanted to discuss anything with our comrades -- albeit with not as
>much of an inflammatory tone as he took with Comrade Sayles.  But he
>chose to confront our comrade at work. This is inexcusable and a
>total violation of workers morality.
>     Leland S.'s action indicates how completely out of touch he is
>with what it is to be a worker. This is not surprising coming from
>someone who has never worked a day in his life. However, if the RWL
>does not take the appropriate corrective measures, we can only
>conclude that the RWL supports such anti-worker methods that get
>workers fired from their jobs. Therefore, we will treat the RWL as an
>anti-working class organization and defend ourselves and other
>workers' organizations from the RWL's gangsterism.
>     Workers' Voice demands a full, public, written apology from the
>RWL around this incident, and assurances that such a violation of
>workers' democracy will not happen again. If our organization does
>not receive a response from the RWL by 9 February 1996, we will be
>forced to launch an international campaign against the RWL and ITC's
>flagrant violations of workers' democracy and vile gangsterism.
>
>National Committee, Workers' Voice (U.S.)
>
>-30-
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