L.A. Left: Ponte Las Pilas!

JUNE 16—The protests against the ICE raids have waned; yet the situation remains tense. The military is stationed in parts of L.A. Mayor Bass’s cops are strictly enforcing her curfew. The raids themselves are ongoing, and fear grips the immigrant population.

Two days ago, tens of thousands of people turned out in L.A. for the “No Kings” protest organized nationally by 50501 to “take back our flag” from Trump and pump blood into a Democratic “resistance.” We were there to push for a break with these liberal politics and warn that decades of such protests helped put immigrants in their present precarious situation. Instead of going down this dead-end road again, we argued that all labor must be mobilized independently of the Democrats to fight Trump. While many individual workers were at the protest, union contingents were scarce; and the organized working class has not taken the lead.

The authorities are also harassing immigrant rights groups and the left. Senator Josh Hawley has sent letters to the mainstream CHIRLA and leftists of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and Unión del Barrio accusing them of “bankrolling civil unrest.” The FBI arrested Centro CSO activist and Teamster Alejandro Orellana for distributing face shields to protesters under attack by projectiles. He was charged with two counts of “conspiracy to commit criminal disorder” and faces up to ten years in prison!

The task posed for the left is to build the broadest possible united-front defense. It is good that groups like Socialist Alternative (SA) and Left Voice have written in defense of PSL and others. But the left is making an effective defense difficult. They fatuously cheerlead the “uprising,” while peddling the same tired liberal strategy of yesteryear. They all criticize the Dems and capitalism and call for strikes for immigrant rights. But they look to the pro-capitalist leadership of social movements and the trade unions as agents for change.

SA praises 50501 for calling nationwide protests while noting that “any sustained movement will also need a bold, clear program of demands…and a strategy to win them.” Of course, 50501 has a strategy…it’s called boost the Democratic Party. Refusing to combat this obstacle is a recipe for defeat.

Left Voice went from claiming that earlier protests “won a historic victory” to hailing the “No Kings” marches as an “incredibly progressive development.” They rejoice that tens of thousands are in the streets, no matter that the protest organizers’ liberalism is a barrier to actual class struggle and can lead only to demoralization. To top it off, they call on “the leaders of the Teamsters, the UAW, and SEIU” to “build the unity of labor and social movements against Trump.” But the only way to build such unity is through exposure of these class traitors, who perpetuate divisions among workers. As Marx said, first time tragedy, second time farce—third time…WTF?

The stakes are high. Workers themselves must take the initiative so the labor movement is not thrown back. The energy and resources of the left must be put into fighting to mobilize workers in concrete labor action and to back up community self-defense efforts before it’s too late. Ponte las pilas! Get it together!