NEWS & LETTERS, March-April 2010
Workers fight 'ley 7'
Aguadilla, Puerto Rico--The ruling pro-statehood party, Partido Nuevo Progresista, got a boost from the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico when it decided four to three that "ley 7" was constitutional. Ley 7 is the spear point of neoliberal policies which have put thousands of public sector workers in the ranks of the unemployed, not to mention the deconstruction of public services. (See January-February News & Letters, "Defiance of 'ley 7.'")
Public services are down to a minimum. School janitors were laid off, even with 15 years on the job. They were told to join cooperatives to provide cleaning services to the schools. As the garbage piled up, the janitors were hired back to clean up the mess.
University bookstores are closing because personnel have been laid off at campuses of the University of Puerto Rico. Students are forced to look elsewhere to buy their textbooks--often at outrageous prices. These are just some examples of the neoliberal attempt to make a capitalist island a paradise for corporate greed.
The Supreme Court decision was no surprise to the working class. The judges were handpicked by the ruling party, but among the dissenters was the Chief Justice--so there are contradictions in the ruling class.
Worker protests continue. Acts of passive resistance are continuous, and more are planned. A general strike is in the works. The real struggle is in the streets. While members of the governor's blue-ribbon education commission sit in their air-conditioned offices ensuring that Puerto Rican schools comply with the regulations of the Bush/Obama "No Child Left Behind," the workers will be in the streets blocking traffic and forming human chains of dignity.
--Teófilo
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