Bush threatens use of troops in dock dispute

by Evelina Alarcon

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) revealed last week 
that a secret Bush administration taskforce has threatened a military 
takeover of West Coast ports if the union decides to strike.

In response, the national AFL-CIO and prominent leaders including Senate 
Majority leader Tom Daschle (Democrat), Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn and 
Rep. Grace Napolitano (Dem) are rallying to the side of the union demanding 
that the Bush administration stay out of negotiations.

The taskforce has included the participation of Secretary of Defence Donald 
Rumsfield, Homeland Security head Tom Ridge, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao 
and is chaired by Carlos Bonilla of the National Economic Council.

In a statement to his members, ILWU International President James Spinosa 
described how the taskforce contacted him and other members of the Coast 
negotiating Committee directly.

"The task force has threatened to invoke a Taft-Hartley injunction against 
our union, to pass special legislation to restrict our legal collective 
bargaining rights and to break up our coastwise contract", he said.

"Most ominously, it has threatened to bring National Guard troops onto our 
docks."

Spinosa said that their employers -- the Pacific Maritime Association -- 
have been encouraged not to negotiate in good faith because "they know they 
have the Bush administration on their side".

"Every proposal they have brought to the table was carefully crafted to be 
unacceptable to the union", said the longshore leader.

"Not since 1948 ... have we seen an employer so emboldened, so ready and 
eager to bust the union. It was apparent right from the first day of 
bargaining that the employers were on a mission. Their opening proposal was 
full of takeaways. ... They didn't leave anything out, from maintenance of 
benefits, to the dispatch hall to the arbitration system and the 
workplace."

"Let's be frank about what we are facing", continued Spinosa.

"A union's strongest weapon is withholding its labour ... and now Bush 
wants to take away the biggest source of power we have. We have to stay 
focused. This is a fight for the very existence of the ILWU."

The AFL-CIO has teamed up with the West Coast union to launch a national 
campaign to stop government intervention. They have assigned staff in a 
half-dozen West Coast port cities to organise actions and adopted a 
strongly worded statement of solidarity with the ILWU.

The deadlocked negotiations are in recess until August 13. A series of 
labour solidarity actions are to take place starting on August 12 at all 
major West Coast ports.

The ILWU also faces threats from the West Coast Waterfront Coalition 
(WCWC), representing retailers like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target.

In a memo dated June 4, Robin Lanier, executive director of the WCWC, 
reports that the coalition has conveyed to President Bush that they want 
concessions from the ILWU and government intervention "to avoid labour 
disruptions".

The memo calls for active lobbying and states, "while it's true the 
administration understands our concerns, they need political cover from you 
to come out with a strong response".

Steve Stallone, ILWU Communications Director, told the People's Weekly 
World that Andrew Siff, a Department of Labor lawyer, told union 
officers that they were looking at a "PATCO-type scenario".

He threatened them with Taft-Hartley [legislation], which has not been used 
since 1978, when President Jimmy Carter unsuccessfully tried to end a 
national coal strike, but also with breaking up the ILWU's coastwide 
contract, which would force it to bargain port by port and "destroy 
whatever strength we have as a union".

Siff also threatened to put the ILWU under the jurisdiction of the National 
Railway Labor Act, which would undercut the union's ability to strike.

"We are seeing a recurrence of the McCarthy era where instead of using 
Communists as a cover to attack the workers' movement, the Bush 
administration is exploiting Sept. 11 to use national security and 
terrorists as a cover to destroy labor rights", Stallone said.

"The ILWU is targeted, but there is also a straight up attack against 
collective bargaining by government workers' unions, as well as railroad 
and airline workers", said Stallone. "National security is being used as a 
smokescreen for union busting. The Bush policy seems to be that union 
rights equals national security threat."

A public hearing called by the California State Assembly and Senate Labor 
Committees is being planned for August 16 in Los Angeles, where legislators 
will hear testimony on the impact of the ILWU labour negotiations on 
working families.

A packet is now available on the ILWU website (www.ilwu.org) where union 
supporters can get resolutions, letters and other solidarity action 
materials.

The union's contract with the Pacific Maritime Association controls the 
flow of about US$260 billion in cargo through the nation's 29 major West 
Coast ports.

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Juan Lopez contributed to this article The author can be reached at 
evnalarcon@aol.com
People's Weekly World paper of Communist Party, USA