Everyone knows the vital role the locked out Kaiser steelworkers played in the Seattle protests. Now they need direct action support at the picket line in Tacoma.
They are picketing a ship carrying ore to Kaiser aluminum plants. The ILWU – longshoremen who shut down the coast for the WTO protest – are honoring this picket line. The police are trying to bust it with arrests.
This struggle is crucial for all labor and the battle against the multinational’s agenda. US labor law outlaws such solidarity.
If the alliance that shut down Seattle can mobilize to this round-the-clock picket line, prevent the ship from unloading and repeat the battle at every other port the “Cupid Feather” goes to, this could be a turning point in showing the way to win strikes and lockouts in North America and beyond.
Please cross-post this to every list that could mobilize people in the Seattle Tacoma region. Details are attached below.
In solidarity,
Eric Lerner,
Workers Democracy Network
[Below was copied from MEBA-L – - unofficial listserve of Marine Engineers Beneficial Association] Please pass this on to the members-only BBS and any other lists that might result in getting some bodies down to the Port of Tacoma.
Locked out Steelworkers from Kaiser Aluminum’s Tacoma smelter operation are picketing the bulker “Cupid Feather”, which is currently docked at pier 7 with a load of bauxite ore for Kaiser.
ILWU longshoremen are honoring the picket line, which is intended to force Kaiser to finally come to the table and resolve this lock-out, which has seen the plant run by scabs for well over a year now.
It is intended to keep the line up 24 hours a day. Tacoma police, as always, acting at Kaiser’s behest, have just arrested Steelworkers District 11 organizer John Youngdahl.
It is time to make the company, the port, and the city understand that working people have had enough of this bullshit. The days of renegade employers kicking long-time loyal employees out on the street are over.
I hope to see some of you there. 2205 Sitcum Way off E. 11th and Thorn.
Phillip Hellesto
