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Queen Benson’s Hands in Tax Payer Pockets Again


With the death of Tom Benson, his wife Gayle became the richest person living in the state of Louisiana and the owner of the New Orleans Saints, among other properties. Like her husband before her, she has continued the family tradition of extorting millions of dollars from the city and the state.

Knowing the local workers’ love of the football team, she has coerced the state to pay her $450 million to keep the team in New Orleans for another 15 years (and an ‘option’ for 15 more, meaning another round of extortion from whichever Benson is running things by then). As previously reported in the Workers Voice, this is a common tactic of privately owned teams and something Tom Benson did in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as well, demanding a ransom of $23.5 million a year from the people in order to keep the beloved team from leaving town.

According to Gov. John Bel Edwards, Gayle’s ransom money will come from the state, from the Louisiana State and Exposition District (which is a state entity that runs the Superdome), and a portion from the Saints organization. It will be used to renovate the Dome. Already, the Benson family does not pay rent for their use of the state-owned building, claiming it to be a “small market” for sports in spite of the fact that the team sells out on season tickets almost every year for the 70,000+ seat stadium.

This money comes out of the pockets of the workers, and they will see none of it coming back to them. Improvements to the Superdome will mostly be enjoyed by those rich enough to afford tickets to see the team or the huge concerts that play there, not by the average worker, and most of the money will simply line the pockets of the Benson family. Those who work at the Superdome will continue to be paid $8 an hour while the owners of the team will walk away with millions per game.

The Green Bay Packers, on the other hand, are owned by the city of Green Bay. Given that the workers of New Orleans have supported the team for 50 years, and given that their work has made every bit of profit the Benson family has taken from the city, the people of New Orleans should own the New Orleans Saints. No more handouts to the super-rich! No more privately-owned teams! Make the Saints a true home town team!

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Resistance to ICE is Growing. Stop the War on Migrants!

Protesters block ICE headquarters in Philadelphia, PA.

By Ashlee Pintos and Adam Pedescleaux

In an act of resistance against the racist, capitalist state, a Nashville community came together to protect an immigrant father when two plainclothes ICE agents in an unmarked vehicle came to arrest him. The neighborhood of Black and white workers formed a human chain surrounding the car and ensured the father and son had food and water during the whole ordeal. After four hours, the agents finally left having terrorized the immigrant father and child. Without community support, the father and son would have been separated and thrown into one of the government’s concentration camps.

Protests against anti-migrant terrorism have been taking place all over the country. Over 1,000 activists in Washington, DC, blocked the entrances and exits to the national ICE offices. Led by Jewish activists, this action blocked traffic and ended only when 11 protesters were arrested. At an earlier protest in DC, the activists staged a sit-in at the same offices. In Phoenix, AZ, 16 people were arrested in a similar protest. In Colorado, protesters replaced the U.S. flag at the ICE offices with one of Mexico in act of symbolic solidarity.

They also destroyed a racist Blue Lives Matter flag. And in Rhode Island, a protest outside a concentration camp was attacked by an ICE employee when he drove his truck into the crowd, injuring several people.

In acts of solidarity across California, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, hospital staff are being trained how to use their bodies to stop ICE agents from entering hospitals.

In recent months, there have been multiple incidents where sea captains were arrested for saving migrants’ lives in the Mediterranean Sea. Pia Klemp, a German sea captain with an organization called Sea Watch International, faces 20 years in prison for rescuing people fleeing from Libya, a country which was destroyed by U.S. bombings and a right-wing coup a decade ago. While she and her crew are being investigated by Italian authorities, the French city of Paris offered her a medal for her bravery. She declined, denouncing the hypocrisy of the Parisian city government who order their police to oppress migrant workers daily. In June, the German ship captain Carola Rackete brought migrants she had rescued into port in defiance of the Italian police. She now faces charges similar to Klemp’s.

Every act of resistance against ICE and other anti-migrant forces in capitalist countries is a victory for the working class. We must all stand together against the Gestapo-like tactics of these agencies. As attacks on workers worldwide are increasingly violent, it is easy to feel defeated. However, all throughout the world, there are countless acts of resistance that are demonstrating workers’ power.