The following report from the Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA), our sister organisation in the USA, shows the profound impact that a single bold communist can have in a workplace.
Whilst being victimised by the bosses, comrade Milos has built a huge base of support amongst his colleagues.
Key to this has been their ability to skillfully link Marxist ideas to the particular facts of their workplace, and in turn to the broader class struggle between the working class and the capitalists.
The RCP sends its support and solidarity to Milos, and to all those facing victimisation and repression at the hands of the bosses.
The best solidarity we can show is to emulate the example that they have set, and build a powerful communist organisation with roots in every workplace and working-class community.
We therefore encourage our worker-readers – and anyone building a communist cell in their workplace – to study this report carefully.
Take inspiration from Milos’ workplace agitation and activity. Start building and organising amongst your fellow workers. And send us your reports at communist.red/write.
Comrade Milos Minos is facing trial for an unusual crime: discussing wages and working conditions with their coworkers at Minneapolis International Airport – a 21,000-strong workplace.
Milos has worked at the airport for three years, and is one of several RCA comrades who has formed a communist cell there.
Facing a misdemeanour charge of “constitutionally protected speech in an undesignated area”, Milos could be sentenced for up to 90 days behind bars – all for distributing leaflets containing economic data that was published on the airport’s own public website!
Apparently it’s ok for the bosses to discuss these figures in their boardrooms and publicise them in their finance reports. But when workers discuss them on the job, it becomes a criminal offence.
It turns out it’s a security threat for workers to be informed of how much value they’re generating for their employers – if the discussion happens beyond the security gates.
“Would you ever work for free?”
“It all started with a discussion about Marxist economics,” Milos said. “I was studying Karl Marx’s Value, Price and Profit with comrades in the party, and learned that the working day is divided between necessary labour time, in which we produce the value that covers our own wages, and surplus labour time, in which we generate the value that goes toward the profits of the capitalist class.”
It got them wondering about their own workplace, and how much labour time there goes to line the bosses’ pockets.
“All it took was a quick internet search and, lo and behold, all the economic stats were right in front of me.” Milos came across a finance report published on the airport’s website. “The best part was that the airport itself had publicly released this data.”
The report clearly stated that the airport’s 21,200 employees earn $1.3 billion in annual wages and generate $3.9 billion in direct GDP. So the average worker generates $183,000 each year, but earns $61,000 in wages. In other words, workers are receiving a third of the value generated by their labour.
The average full-time airport employee, who works 260 days a year, is essentially working 173 of those days for free.
The comrade wasted no time. In the breakroom where they searched the figures, Milos tore out a page of a notebook, drew up a draft leaflet, and walked up to some coworkers. One of them, a cook, works two jobs at the airport, from 4am to 9pm each day.
“Would you ever work for free?” Milos asked. “Of course not!” the cook replied. Milos handed him the leaflet. “Well, you already are.” As the workers read the information on the page, their jaws dropped.
On the spot, they began making plans to circulate the leaflet. In the next week they became impatient to get the leaflets laid-out, printed, and distributed.
Raising class consciousness
It wasn’t until the leaflet began circulating that its real power became clear.
“I would hand a leaflet to a worker and tell them, ‘this is about you’. They would see the cover title that reads ‘The Exploitation of the MSP Airport Workers’ and smile and thank me so warmly and sincerely, and immediately crack it open.”
The amused grin on the faces of the workers turned into expressions of outrage
“They would look up at me and say: ‘Is this true? What are we gonna do about this?’ Workers all know we’re being screwed, but we rarely have the figures laying it out in front of us in black and white.”
Many workers felt so strongly about the leaflet that they volunteered to help distribute them to their coworkers. Eventually, the leaflets were being distributed by baristas, baggage handlers, cooks, and even managers!
“One day, one of my managers told me we needed to talk. I saw my leaflet in his hand, and my stomach dropped. But then he told me, ‘This leaflet is amazing, this is such a good idea!’ and he became one of the distributors! Later I saw him handing them out to all the workers behind the counter in his restaurant, and they all began reading it on the spot.”
Milos began handing out leaflets to airport workers who were riding the train to work. “When I got to the end of the train car, I’d look back and see all of them reading it intently.”
The workers also passed the leaflets to each other independently of Milos or the other distributors. “I would hand someone a leaflet and they would tell me ‘My coworker already gave me one. It’s messed up that we’re being exploited like that.’”
The leaflets were becoming a sensation. But they were also raising class consciousness in the workplace. Workers who had never encountered a communist before were learning in concrete terms what the class struggle is all about.
“We were planning to take our breaks at the same time, and to discuss Marxism with those workers who wanted to know what we can do about this. Several workers expressed interest in the RCA.”
Political repression
One day, two airport detectives appeared at Milos’ workplace, with the leaflet in hand. They charged Milos with the misdemeanour of “constitutionally-protected speech beyond the security gate”, and proceeded to confiscate the comrade’s airport badge.
“They physically escorted me out of the airport in front of all my coworkers. My phone started blowing up with text messages of concern and support.”
Milos received a call from HR informing them that they were fired. It is unclear who exactly called in the detectives. But a manager later informed the comrade that the airport executives considered the leaflet “offensive”.
Whatever happens in the courtroom, the bosses haven’t seen the last of us.
Word at the airport
“This airport makes huge sums, with prices exceeding 2–3 times average pricing. While hungry imperialist businessmen pace through the terminal thinking about their next bite to eat, the working class is on the edge, living check by check, watching as your peers are fired left and right, working overtime to support an airport filled with poorly managed companies.”
“It’s scary seeing how easily we workers can be threatened by the legal system for expressing our ideas. It’s dehumanising compared to how important they want us to treat the customers. We need change!”
“Milos definitely left an impact. Don’t think it’s been silent after they were escorted out of the airport. My coworkers and I are outraged that Milos was terminated for exercising free speech. All because of a flyer?”
“All the facts and statistics in the pamphlet that was going around came from the airport website itself. We as staff at the airport restaurants are understaffed and overworked. I agree with every fact that was stated. I do not agree with the removal of the employee for utilising their freedom of speech rights.”
