US West Coast:
Longshore rallies tell Bush: Butt out
by Evelina Alacron and Juan Lope "Contract, Yes! Government intervention, No!" was the message of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), the AFL-CIO, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and many mayors at rallies up and down the West Coast on August 12. Thousands took to the streets in protest of a threat by the Bush administration to take over ports militarily in the event that the union decides to strike. (See Guardian, August 14, 2002.) "I'm here because I think you are right on track. The stakes could not be higher", Daschle said to the Portland, Oregon, rally. "I say this administration is wrong, wrong, wrong, and you've got every right to fight, fight, fight!" "We will be with you until the last day to see that you get what you deserve", Daschle said as he pledged that Democrats nationwide would defend the union's right to strike. Backing that message were other prominent Congressional Democrats including Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. David Wu, who joined Daschle in Portland. The mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma also pledged their support to the ILWU. "The collective bargaining process is the appropriate method by which labour disputes are to be resolved. It is in place. It should stay in place", said San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who called on President Bush not to interfere. The federal government "certainly should not do so by using the national guard or any group of federal troops to replace legitimate workers", continued Brown. Los Angeles City Council member Janice Hahn, representing Mayor James Hahn and the City Council, told the rally in Long Beach, California, of over 3000 that the "3.5 million people in the city of Los Angeles are behind you". She announced that the mayor and City Council passed a resolution officially opposing any intervention by federal government in negotiations. AFL-CIO leaders backed the ILWU with strong warnings of their own. "President Bush, if you close down the ports, we will close down San Pedro and we will close down Long Beach!" shouted Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer Miguel Contreras, who chaired the Long Beach rally. "If you take on the ILWU, you take on all of the American labour movement!" Contreras continued, as he named the numerous unions represented at the rally. "If you want to challenge us, let's get it on!" "There is going to be economic justice for the members of the ILWU, or there is going to be one hell of a strike that'll involve the entire labour movement", Teamsters International Vice President Chuck Mack said to the Oakland rally. With strong words of his own, ILWU International President James Spinosa told the Oakland rally of 1500 that "the labour movement and the ILWU are not going to stand by and allow for government intervention into the bargaining process." "Our fathers and grandfathers who worked these ports earned the rights we have today", said Ramon Ponce de Leon, President of ILWU Local 13 in Los Angeles. "Four of our members died in a strike for those rights. If they push us again, we're ready, whatever the cost. It's our day and we'll stand up and fight!" Many leaders rebuked the charges by the Bush administrations and the PMA [employers] that an ILWU strike or labour action is a threat to national or economic security. "Working people cannot be blamed for the nation's economic meltdown. While firefighters and rescue workers were risking their lives in the September 11 disaster ... our captains of industry had their own agenda", said Domenick Miretti, ILWU senior liaison between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. "They were engaged in creative bookkeeping, stock manipulation and shady energy deals in California." "They have no right to blame the state of the economy on the ILWU. That is the fault of the stock market, of the robber barons, of the greedy corporations", said Clarence Thomas, Bay Area ILWU Local 10 secretary- treasurer. "The employers talk about how much we make but don't tell you how many longshoremen have died. This is a dangerous job. How much do these bleeding heart shipowners make? ... They make billions off our labour."* * * Herb Kaye contributed to this article. Evelina Alarcon can be reached at evnalarcon@aol.com Juan Lopez can be reached at ncalview@igc.org People's Weekly World (Abridged). For full text visit http://www.pww.org