Newark, NJ, June 30—Members of Progressive Labor Party in Newark are participating in a vitally important anti-racist struggle for safe drinking water. High levels of lead contaminate the city’s water. This is particularly toxic for children. Water contamination is a dangerous and frightening crisis of racist neglect that besets cities like Flint, Cleveland and Newark, where the majority of the residents are Black and Latin. It is a stunning example of how capitalism couldn’t care less about the health and safety of working people, and how workers, regardless of skin color, are hurt by racism.
Newark Education Workers (NEW) Caucus, a social justice caucus inside of the Newark Teachers Union, has joined the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) in a lawsuit to force the city and state to ensure safe drinking water. It’s encouraging that a multi-racial group of workers in the city have joined the teachers in planning neighborhood meetings to organize a campaign to demand clean water.
Once the lawsuit was announced, the fake-radical mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, repeated the lie that the water is safe despite the city’s own sampling: “In 2017, 10 percent of water samples collected by the city showed lead levels above 26 parts per billion, nearly twice the federal action level of 15 parts per billion (NRDC, May 2018).”  One home had as high as 182 parts per billion (NJ Drinking Water Watch 5/16/18).
Baraka has been peddling his lie of clean water for two years. In 2016, Newark Public Schools had to turn the water off in thirty buildings because of high lead levels. While students were drinking boxed water, Baraka and other city officials told residents that the water in the homes was fine even though the home water travels through the same pipes as the school water.
According to the law, the city was supposed to replace seven percent of the lead pipes by June 30th. Yet they have not even broken ground. This blatant disregard for Black and Latin workers’ health exposes the true nature of these fake Democratic Party misleaders. While Baraka talks a good game about equality, he has proven that his loyalty ultimately lies with Newark’s corporations.
Having allowed the water pipes in Newark to crumble for decades, it will now cost billions to repair. During a forum about the water crisis, a worker in the audience stood up and said we are shooting ourselves in the foot because the city will raise taxes on the working class to pay for the repairs. And indeed, there have been proposals to raise workers’ taxes. However, NEW Caucus has demanded that the real estate developers and corporations that are making millions in the city should be the ones responsible for funding the repairs.
Baraka, however, continues to support tax breaks for major corporations. The city and state are offering Amazon over seven billion dollars in tax breaks, allowing this multi-billion dollar business to maximize profits while workers suffer with poor infrastructure. Other corporations, such as Mars Wrigley, are also moving their headquarters to Newark with the promise of a tax break. In all, the state has given over eight billions dollars in tax breaks since 2010 (Patch.com, 10/12/17) while not doing a damn thing about the lead in the water.
Communism, the antitdote
The lawsuit brought against the city and state opened up the eyes of many workers in the city. However, history has shown that relying on the courts doesn’t work. Lawsuits must be accompanied by workers organizing and taking to the streets to win improvements. Recent events reveal who the courts truly serve. From the recent Janus decision to the racist Muslim travel ban, the courts are here to serve the wealthy. Even liberal victories, like Brown v Board of Education, which supposedly outlawed segregation in schools, are ignored or systematically weakened. In this case, it’s clear that the city and state are in violation of the Clean Water Act. However, without workers organizing, demonstrating, and disrupting the everyday operations of capitalism, the ruling class can drag this suit out for years while Black, Latin and white workers continue to be poisoned.
The Progressive Labor Party is taking part in the struggle for clean drinking water, while exposing Democratic Party misleaders like Baraka. Most importantly, we’re inviting Newark workers to join us in organizing for a communist world where workers’ health and well being will be the top priority.