------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Oct. 17, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
RALLY AT OAKLAND PORT SUPPORTS ILWU By Bill Hackwell Oakland, Calif. On 24 hours' notice, over 500 people came to the port of Oakland on Oct. 5 to show their support for the International Longshore & Warehouse Workers Union in its struggle with the Pacific Maritime Association. This pivotal battle in the war at home against the Bush administration has drawn national attention as the PMA lockout goes into its second week. Picket lines preventing any goods from crossing into the ports continue on a 24-hour basis at the entrance to every berth at every port on the West Coast. Despite reports in the corporate media weighted in its favor, the PMA is becoming more and more exposed for the union-busting greed behind its lockout of the port workers. In one recent negotiating session with the ILWU, the PMA showed up with gun-toting security guards. Union leaders walked out, saying they would not negotiate with guns in the room. At the rally, speaker after speaker condemned the threats coming from the Bush administration. Trent Green, a business agent for ILWU Local 10, referred to PMA head Joseph Miniace as "a terrorist because he is attacking our jobs." Clarence Thomas, ILWU Local 10 secretary-treasurer, said the union was fed up with the lack of respect the workers get. Referring to background checks that the Bush administration is trying to get as a requirement to work on the docks, he asked, "If a terrorist attack happened on the docks, who would be the ones killed and injured? It would be us." LEAFLETERS TARGET THE GAP On another front, informational leafleting at selected companies in the West Coast Waterfront Coalition has produced its first victory. Payless Shoes has withdrawn from the coalition because of the pressure it was getting from its customers, who had mailed in cards saying that they had shopped there and that they support the ILWU. A number of organizations that did the leafleting, including the anti-war coalition ANSWER, have now turned their attention to The Gap. One Payless store in downtown San Francisco was so anxious to deflect attention from its anti- labor activity that it put an "I support the port workers" sign in its window, with an arrow showing that the leafleting had moved to The Gap down the street. The justification cited by the PMA to lock out the port workers in the first place was that they were working to the rules and safety guidelines agreed upon in the expired contract. These guidelines act as a brake against the bosses speeding up work. In the last six months, five port workers have been killed on West Coast docks. Why are the bosses now construing safety as a crime? For the workers it is a life-and-death issue. The Bush administration is preparing to invoke the Taft- Hartley law, which would allow a three-person panel appointed by the government to determine the speed of the work on the docks. With the bays up and down the West Coast looking like container ship parking lots, there will be a lot of pressure on the ILWU workers to unload them fast. This panel, made up of two college labor professors and former Reagan Labor Secretary Bill Brock, will be no friend to the ILWU. On hearing that Bush had ignored a union offer to go back to work under the old contract for 30 days, invoking Taft- Hartley proceedings instead, ILWU Local 10 president Richard Mead said, "This is what the PMA wanted all along. They didn't bargain in good faith and they held the economy hostage to force the Bush administration to intervene on their behalf." - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
