>Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 17:04:12 -0500 >From: Carrol Cox <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >From: radman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE >D2K Labor Organizing Committee >Contact: Michael Everett, 310-394-2596, 310-480-2871 > Jim Lauderdale, 213-482-6660, ext. 231 > >August 15, 2000 > >LAPD Attacks Organized Labor at Staples Center Rally; Leaders Demand >Apology > >LOS ANGELES - Last night, August 14 at 8:30pm, the Los Angeles Police >Department used clubs, horses, rubber bullets, and chemical weapons to >attack up to a thousand union members as they attempted to peacefully >disperse from the Staples Center rally site. > >The D2KLA rally was cosponsored by a wide range of labor unions and >was in fact an officially sponsored labor event. Some of the unions >endorsing the event included the AFL-CIO San Francisco Labor Council, >International Longshore & Warehouse Union, California Nurses >Association, Film & Television Action Committee (representing members >of IATSE, SAG, AFTRA, Teamsters, WGA, DGA), Laborers Local 724, AFSCME >Local 1108, and P.A.C.E. Local 8-675. The unprovoked attack on labor >by the LAPD was unprecedented in recent history and was the bloodiest >labor conflict in Los Angeles since the 1940's. > >Organized labor has sponsored a series of events for the week of the >Democratic convention in reaction to a Democratic platform, which >embraces fast track and rejected amendments for fair trade, a living >wage, and universal health care. > >Union members and their families, along with thousands of other >protesters were enjoying a concert by Ozomotli when at approximately >8pm the music abruptly stopped and the stage lights went out. An LAPD >police commander announced from the stage that he was declaring the >event an illegal assembly and ordered the crowd of up to 10,000 to >disperse and giving them 15 minutes to do so. Many of the crowd were >able to exit the area before the police attacked, but thousands were >still struggling to negotiate the narrow exit area and the three foot >concrete barriers obstructing it when waves of police on horseback and >on foot moved into the crowd and began firing indiscriminately on the >fleeing protesters. Scores of protesters were injured, most shot in >the back, as they attempted to comply with police orders to disperse. > >Labor activist Michael Everett, one of the organizers of the event >said, "Labor is a key component of the Seattle Coalition - when the >police attack any on of us, they attack all of us. Make no mistake >about it, last night's attack was an attack on the labor movement and >the working families we represent. It marks an ominous new direction >for relations between the LAPD and organized labor, and we call for an >official apology from the city and from the LAPD. We ask the >Democratic Party to publicly renounce and disassociate themselves from >this sort of unprovoked and violent attack on labor." > >The D2K Labor Organizing Committee has called for a mass labor turnout >at this Thursday's global sweatshop and immigrants rights march >through the Garment district. The march will be led by Justice for >Janitors and will begin at 8th & Santee at 4pm. It will proceed to >the Staples Center to join a final mass rally and protest to take >place during Al Gore's acceptance speech. Regardless of police >provocations, organizers pledge to maintain their adherence to the >principles of non-violence and remind both the LAPD and the Democratic >Party that the whole world will be watching. > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
