The San Francisco Labor Council
The California Federation of Labor
and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union
invite you to attend a breakfast in honor of International Longshoremen’s Association Locals 1442 and 1771 and their struggle to defend workers rights in South Carolina.
When a company whose ships had been worked for 23 years by International Longshoremen’s Assn. Locals 1442 and 1771 in Charleston, South Carolina unilaterally brought in scabs to load its vessel Jan. 20, 2000, the union workers prepared to put up a picket line. But the law enforcement agencies of South Carolina, a right-to-work state, sent in 600 riot police with dogs, horses, armored vehicles and helicopters against the workers-and then launched a vengeful prosecution against five of them. They face five-year prison sentences on felony rioting charges for the crime of picketing in defense of their jobs. To add insult to injury the company that was picketed is suing the locals along with 29 union members for $1. 5 million in alleged financial losses from the incident.
ILA 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. This attack on the union led by a white Republican Attorney General comes shortly after it helped lead a demonstration against flying the Confederate flag at the state capitol, after Local 1422 President Ken Riley was nominated to the State Port Authority board and after the union was instrumental in electing a Democratic governor.
Few cases show so clearly the link between workers’ rights to make a decent living and their civil rights to participate fully in the political process-the link 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.
Local 1442 President Ken Riley and other ILA officials and members will be present to explain their struggle and the national and international movement to defend the Charleston Five.
We are counting on your support as we fight for justice! See you there!
| Walter Johnson | Jim Spinosa | Art Pulaski |
| Secretary-Treasurer | International President | Secretary-Treasurer |
| San Francisco Labor Council | ILWU | California Labor Federation |
