------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Dec. 5, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
Boston frame-up foiled: ANTI-WAR, LABOR UNITY WINS VICTORY FOR MARCUS JEAN By Steve Kirschbaum, Boston Labor's ANSWER, member Steel Workers Local 8751 On Nov. 14, after less than 30 minutes of deliberation, a West Roxbury Court jury returned its verdict of "not guilty" in the case of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Boston school bus driver Marcus Jean. This brought to a successful conclusion a critical phase in the struggle to win justice for Jean, an activist member of Steel Workers Local 8751. It was also an important victory in building unity between the anti-war movement and the movement to defend labor's rights. In his closing remarks to the jury, people's lawyer Barry Wilson explained that this case represented Laidlaw Corp.'s cynical use of the governments' post-Sept. 11 pro-war frenzy to fire a union activist. Wilson's remarks were reported in a front-page article headlined "Bus Driver Cleared of Terror Threat Charges" in the Boston Banner, the newspaper of Boston's African American community. Laidlaw, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had targeted Jean as part of its policy to weed out unionists who resist the firm's plans to downsize, cut wages and tighten its grip on the work force. On Jan. 30, Jean was involved in a minor disagreement with another driver concerning a bus parking spot. Jean and his union steward met with Readville Assistant Manager Diane Kelly and resolved the matter. No warning or discipline of any kind was issued. The next morning Readville Terminal Manger Rick McLaughlin, in a provocative and threatening manner, tried to interrogate Jean about this same incident. Jean recognized that this was a gross violation of his union rights. He called McLaughlin on his racist discrimination and refused to submit to management harassment. The dispute came in the context of dozens of union cases against McLaughlin for harassment, intimidation and threats against union drivers. That afternoon McLaughlin went to the police. He claimed that Jean had repeatedly threatened to blow up the building and posed a serious "terrorist" threat. The Boston Police Report cites Laidlaw Corp. as the "victim." McLaughlin subsequently used this false charge to fire Jean. LAIDLAW, GOV'T CONSPIRE IN 'HOMELAND SECURITY' FRAME-UP Government attacks on the labor movement are nothing new. The Teamsters, AFSCME, Service Employees and Steel Workers are just a few of the recent targets. Injunctions during strikes, false charges under the RICO statutes, and fraudulent prosecution by the Labor Department have become routine. Bush's "enduring war" has upped the ante in the attacks on labor. The Bush/ Ashcroft "Homeland Security" machine clearly has the unions in its sights. The White House has given the green light to Corporate America to use the "enduring war" to declare war on union rights. In a recent West Coast labor conflict, Homeland Security boss Tom Ridge used a "national security" cover to threaten the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union dock workers in California. Bush invoked the notorious anti-union Taft-Hartly Act against the longshore union. The March 2002 issue of Local 8751's rank-and-file newsletter the Unity Bulletin explained that Marcus Jean's case was part of "a national wave of government-directed anti-immigrant hysteria sweeping the country." This wave includes racist profiling, government detention of Arab people without charges and racist violence against immigrant communities. It is in this context that the district attorney for Massachusetts embarked on a 10-month prosecution of an innocent Haitian-born union activist based on the uncorroborated story of a racist Laidlaw boss. BOSTON LABOR'S ANSWER LEADS STRUGGLE Much of the union leadership on the local and national level has been unable to respond to the corporate/government attacks on the unions in the current war climate. This was the case with Marcus Jean. The rank-and-file members, however, showed they are ready to fight back. Boston Labor's ANSWER, made up of activists from the coalition Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, established the Marcus Jean Defense Committee. The committee secured the top criminal attorney in the region, people's lawyer Barry Wilson, knowing that he would bring the struggle of the street into the courtroom. ANSWER activists launched a full-scale, al-out defense campaign to mobilize support. This included packing every court appearance, getting endorsers, holding picket lines and news conferences, speaking at churches and community meetings, and spreading the word through the Internet. The committee also conducted a massive letter campaign to the district attorney demanding that the charges be dropped. Marcus Jean spoke at and marched in many ANSWER protests against war on Iraq and in defense of Palestine. He was a featured speaker at the June 29 rally against the Patriot Act, at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. This campaign to defend Marcus Jean was a concrete expression of ANSWER's view that Bush's war has a domestic front. Fighting on this front can help build unity with the labor movement, which is vital to the anti-war movement. The Marcus Jean Defense Committee will continue the struggle to demand that Laidlaw reinstate him to his job with full back pay and benefits. n - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. 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