For defending their jobs, four members of woverwhelmingly African American International Longshoremen’s Assn. Local 1422 and one white member of ILA Local 1771 face possible five-year prison sentences on felony charges. Local 1422 is a backbone of the Black community in Charleston, South Carolina-a source of stable, well-paid jobs and engine of organized political power.
The state of South Carolina sicced 600 riot police with dogs, horses, armored vehicles and helicopters on Local 1422’s peaceful picket line Jan. 20, 2000-then launched a vegeful prosecution of the five men arrested in the altercation that followed. The company that was picketed is suing Locals 1422 and 1771 along with 29 union members for $1. 5 million in alleged financial losses from the incident.
Few cases show so clearly the link bewtween workers’ rights to make a decent living and their civil rights to participate fully in the political process-the link of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized with his support for the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike. The South Carolina AFL-CIO and the national AFL-CIO started the Campaign for Workers’ Rights in South Carolina to support the Charleston dockworkers. Three local events will give you a chance to find out more about the issue and what you can do to help. . .
Direct From Charleston, South Carolina
BRC launches National “Education not Incarceration” Campaign $5-$10 at the door. No one turned away for lack of funds.
All events co-sponsored by Northern California Labor Committee in Defense of the Charleston Longshore Workers and the Bay Area Local Organizing Committee for the Black Radical Congress
Local Contacts:
Charleston Labor Defense Committee (510)531-4717/Black Radical Congress (510)652-6263
