Letter from the US: Dock workers under attack

March 25, 1998
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Letter from the US

Dock workers under attack

By Barry Sheppard

The Liverpool dockers' heroic 28-month struggle in England was especially noteworthy for the international solidarity campaign that resulted in actions and work stoppages by fellow dockers in more than 20 countries.

One such action in Oakland, California, has led to an attempt by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to break the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and punish others for their solidarity with the Liverpool dockers.

The PMA continues to seek damages for a 1995 strike on the west coast in support of two Seattle ILWU officials who, the union says, were unfairly disciplined on the job.

On September 29, 1997, a picket line was set up by labour and community activists in the port of Oakland against a container ship, the Neptune Jade, because its cargo was loaded by scabs in Liverpool. ILWU members refused to cross the picket line to unload the ship.

Two days later, the PMA got a judge to rule that only four picketers could be in the driveway leading to the ship's berth, but mass picketing continued.

After four days, the ship pulled up anchor and sailed to Vancouver, Canada, where longshore workers also refused to unload it. It then went to Yokohama, Japan, then to Kobe. At each stop the dock workers said no.

The PMA is suing the ILWU and all organisations and individuals involved in the protest in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. If it is successful, it will bankrupt the ILWU and further curtail freedom to express labour solidarity.

As part of the suit, the PMA is attempting to force defendants to name everyone they know who was at the protest and to name all political parties and unions they have ever belonged to. The PMA is demanding union meeting minutes, videos, job dispatch orders, computer hard drives, floppy discs, e-mail, faxes, letters, dairies — the list goes on and on.

This is reminiscent of the McCarthyite witch-hunt against communists in the 1950s.

The PMA has already been granted a court injunction to force the ILWU to cross any solidarity picket lines in the future.

Among the defendants named so far are the Laney College Labor Studies Club, the Labor Party and the Peace and Freedom Party (all identified by banners at the protest), and "John Does", meaning any other names the PMA can find.

The chairperson of the Laney College Labor Studies Department was told to produce Labor Studies Club membership lists. Protests from educators and others across the country convinced a reluctant administration not to release the names, although they have made clear they will not stand up to a judge's order if one comes.

The Laney administration has agreed to provide legal representation to the department's chairperson, but not to the Labor Studies Club. The administration has also issued new rules prohibiting student organisations from picketing, boycotting or demonstrating, or carrying a banner that reads "Laney College Labor Studies Club".

Lawyers for several of the defendants have filed court motions to try to stop the PMA lawsuit. The Oakland Superior Court was scheduled to hear the first of these motions on February 26, and the ILWU called for a protest outside PMA offices on that date. The 500 people who rallied were addressed by two Liverpool stewards, Bobby Morton and Tony Nelsen, then marched to the courthouse.

Even if the PMA lawsuit doesn't bankrupt the ILWU, simply by bringing the suit, the PMA is forcing legal costs on the ILWU and the other individuals and groups involved, and intimidating workers who speak and act with the aim of building worker solidarity.

This threat must be fought by all who support union rights, and indeed, by all who support democratic rights.

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