Migrant, Citizen Worker Solidarity is Key

By A New Orleans Resident

The collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans is a clear example of how the blood and sweat of workers are exploited only to make the rich even richer. Because rich bosses hire workers, exploit their labor, and show time and time again that they do not value us, worker solidarity is more critical than ever for the well-being and safety of the working class.

Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma is one of five workers who rightly filed a lawsuit seeking damages for the physical wounds suffered during the building collapse. The workers are taking a stand because they know that the building collapsed as a result of materials that were inadequate and supports too thin and insufficient for the building.

After filing the lawsuit and speaking to the media about the experience, Ramirez Palma was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), preventing him from telling his firsthand experience, preventing him from fighting for his rights, and preventing him from accessing much needed medical attention for the injuries he suffered.

The capitalist system which exploits the labor of workers for the benefit of the rich does NOT care if the labor is provided by Black workers, poor white workers, or migrant workers.

Mourn for the Dead, Organize for the Living: Construction unions, migrants’ supporters gather to honor Hard Rock workers. The Oct. 17 vigil was organized by the Southeast Louisiana Building and Construction Trades Council. These unions should p[ledge to open organizing campaigns in every construction site and open their doors to all workers, including migrants.

The capitalist system uses racism, documented vs undocumented, or gender-based discrimination to create roadblocks to worker unity. In the end, these forms of divisiveness only end up hurting workers. When we come together and turn our attention to those who exploit us, then and only then, will workers win what is rightfully ours.

It’s intolerable that in pursuit of tourist dollars in the city of New Orleans, which already brings in the most tourist dollars in the world, the rich business owners are putting workers, residents, and tourists in harm’s way by cutting corners. They are putting the safety of the workers and the general public at risk.

Migrant workers (and all other workers) gave labor, blood, sweat and tears to rebuild this city, so we must stand together when workers need to speak up, rise up, and fight for rights and safety. This is our duty!

Workers Voice Socialist Movement

We are workers, employed and unemployed, youth, students, and seniors. We are multi-racial and multi-national and organize for the unity of the working class. We are funded by and for workers, for the liberation of all workers and oppressed people.

We organize for jobs and higher wages, against racism, women’s, and LGBTQ oppression, and for solidarity with immigrants. We organize for community schools, lower rents, and food on our tables. We organize for workers’ power so that everything will one day be removed from the capitalists’ private ownership.

We oppose the Pentagon, which is looting our tax dollars and handing them over to war-profiteering private companies, while social programs are gutted. We oppose war for empire which is pursued only to lower our wages and plunder the world’s resources while destroying the environment. We reject the monopoly media who feed us lie after lie.

The labor of workers produces enormous wealth here in Louisiana, the U.S. and the world– so much wealth that everyone could have housing, meaningful jobs, education, healthcare, and genuine equality. But this wealth is stolen and privately owned by the capitalist class for their greed and profit. We believe that we, the workers of the world, can unite in revolution to overcome capitalism and build a better world.

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