> >ILWU Work Stoppage Will Shut West Coast Ports Today Union action >coincides with rallies for prisoner > >Ilana DeBare, Chronicle Staff Writer > >Saturday, April 24, 1999 >©1999 San Francisco Chronicle > >URL: >http://www.sfgate.com:80/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1 >999/04/24/BU29741.DTL > >Longshore workers will walk off the job at ports throughout the West >Coast today to protest the planned execution of Pennsylvania death >row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. > >The International Longshore and Warehouse Union -- which represents >about 10,000 West Coast dockworkers, including 2,000 in the Bay Area >-- said its members will halt work during today's 8 a.m.-to-6 p.m. >shift. > >``This union has a long track record of taking positions on moral and >social issues, and the Mumia Abu-Jamal case has become symbolic of >the inequities of the criminal justice system,'' said Jack Heyman, an >Oakland ILWU member who helped organize the action in support of >Abu-Jamal. > >Abu-Jamal, a well-known radio journalist and former Black Panther, >was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1981 murder of a >Philadelphia policeman. His supporters say he was framed, and civil >rights attorney Leonard Weinglass is appealing Abu-Jamal's case to >the U.S. Supreme Court. > >The ILWU -- which has held work stoppages in the past to protest >South African apartheid and to support striking dockworkers in >Liverpool, England > >--planned this action to coincide with a national series of rallies >today in support of Abu-Jamal. > >The longshore workers' protest isn't an actual strike. Instead, the >ILWU rescheduled a regular monthly union meeting provided for in its >contract. Normally, the ports stop work on a Thursday evening to >accommodate the union meeting, but this month, they will stop work >today. > >Port officials said the work stoppage would have little effect on >their business. They said that shipping companies had managed to >schedule their arrivals around the action. > >``It's not `shutting down the ports,' which is what some people are >calling it,'' said Josephine Parr, a spokeswoman for the Pacific >Maritime Association, which represents shipping companies. ``It's >just their April union meeting. They just happen to be using it to >support a gentleman in Philadelphia who killed a cop.'' > >Union activists said that shipping officials in Southern California >initially objected to the stoppage but then backed off in order not >to jeopardize negotiations for a new contract with the ILWU. The >current contract will expire this summer. > >The ILWU action is part of a growing involvement by some progressive >labor unions in the Abu-Jamal case. > >The Oakland teachers' union planned a controversial teach-in on >Abu-Jamal last January that was ultimately postponed because of the >shooting of a local police officer. And central labor councils in San >Francisco, Alameda County and San Jose have passed resolutions >calling for a new trial for the inmate. > >``Most of the criticism of labor targets us for being selfish and >only interested in our own wages,'' said Heyman. ``Here we have a >union taking a moral stand and getting a lot of criticism for that >from the industry.'' > >©1999 San Francisco Chronicle Page D1 > > > > > >==================== > >David Richardson >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Website <http://home.pacbell.net/oakport/richardson.html> > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Always wanted to set up a book club, but can't find the time? >http://www.onelist.com >Create an online book club through ONElist. >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >To unsubscribe from this list, go to the ONElist web site, at > www.onelist.com, and select the User Center link from the menu bar > on the left. >--------------------------------------- >PublicLabor Web Page >http://msmoo.simplenet.com/publiclabor > --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
