In issue nine of Communist Revolution, we published an article by comrade Elliott from Toronto about how he led a successful strike of tree planters against wage theft. It has been nearly two years since its publication.
I was recently reminded of this article at work. I mentioned the RCP to a coworker of mine, who asked if I knew an Elliott from Toronto. It turns out that my colleague had been on that same tree-planting expedition that went on strike! He remarked that the strike was “such a very powerful experience” for him, and that he “admired Elliott a lot in his spirit.”
On the basis of this conversation, I have sold and discussed the most recent issue of the paper with him. And since then, we have been casually discussing his questions about politics, events, and whatever else comes to mind. But none of this would have been possible without Elliott’s bold and militant leadership. As my coworker said, “all of us were very clearly disappointed and discouraged by that day of basically working for free but he was definitely the catalyst to the person who started it and pushed it.”
This sort of leadership is what let me establish a political relationship with my coworker. But this shouldn’t just be an isolated incident. Forging these sorts of links is something we should strive to do wherever we find ourselves, because the fight is far from over. This strike won an isolated victory, but the hyper-exploitative culture of tree planting (and of capitalism!) remains unchanged. But as my coworker said, “I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon, but if more people like Elliott were part of tree planting, I feel like it probably would.”
– Richard D., Montreal
