Charles Condon
State Attorney General
P. O. Box 11549
Columbia, S. C. 29211
fax 803-734-4323
Dear Mr. Condon:
We are writing to express our outrage at the action your office is taking to prosecute the five Charleston longshore workers of ILA Locals 1422 and 1771. These union workers were only exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly and their right to picket under U. S. labor law and International Labor Organization conventions ratified by the U. S. government. These workers were the victims of a deliberate provocation by the state of South Carolina, which sent in 600 riot-equipped police officers with dogs, horses, armored vehicles and helicopters. By massing such a huge show of force against peaceful picketers the state made a confrontation inevitable. For the state to then prosecute the victims of its own attack is both cynical and unconscionable.
We demand that your office drop all the charges against the longshore workers. These men have already unjustly suffered having their reputations sullied, their movements restricted and their lives racked by the anxiety of facing prosecution and prison.
We will not rest until this anti-union and racist witch hunt is over. We add our voice to the growing chorus of labor organizations, civil rights groups and social justice advocates demanding an end to this prosecution.
