Solidarity action by US longshoremen has brought about an important step forward in the fight of the locked out Mersey dockers. For several days, longshoremen in Newark, New Jersey refused to cross a picket line of three dockworkers from Liverpool in front of an Atlantic Container Line ship, Atlantic Companion. ACL is a major user of the Liverpool port. Similar action was planned against a second ACL ship due into Newark, Atlantic Cartier.
At first, ACL and the New York Shipping Association went to the Superior Court of New Jersey to get an injunction against the longshoremen to force them to cross the picket. However, when it became clear that the court action was provoking the possibility of an all out strike, ACL decided to meet the International Longshoremens' Association in an attempt to settle out of court.
To get their ships unloaded ACL agreed to issue a public statement to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board calling for a "quick solution" to the lockout and threatening to switch their loading and unloading in Britain to another port if the dispute was not settled by January 15.
The ACL statement reflects the impatience of a number of shipping lines against the MD&HB. When the dispute began, they were promised by the company that it would be over in just a few weeks. Instead they are being faced with solidarity action by dockers throughout the world. Besides the US east coast longshoremen, dockers in Montreal, Canada, Sydney, Australia and Bilbao, Spain have all taken action against shipping lines using Mersey docks.
Dockers' unions from around the world have sent money and support to the Liverpool men. Next Saturday, Jack Heyman from the Executive Board of the San Francisco local of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemans' Union will be expressing the support of US west coast longshoremen by joining the dockers on a demonstration march through Liverpool.
Other major shipping lines using the port are ABC line, Canada Maritime and Morline, the former Soviet shipping line. The dockers are now planning to step up international action against these and other Mersey port users. They are planning to call a world wide day of action against all shipping lines using the port and are appealing to dockers' unions throughout the world to send delegates to an international conference in Liverpool 17-23 February.
