Irene Campbell (centre) with Halinka Augustin
(Secretary, Rotterdam women's group) and Els Reedÿk (on left),
whose husband is a sacked Rotterdam docker
Women of the Waterfront travelled to Amsterdam for the Euro March
along with 5 sacked dockers, shop steward Bobby Morton, and docker's son
Mike Dooley. During the march they met Rotterdam dockworkers and their wives,
who promptly invited WoW to an emergency meeting on threats to their own
labour pool and solidarity with Liverpool.
On the day of their visit a radio broadcast announced 500 job losses in Rotterdam, though this was later denied.
During the meeting, Irene Campbell recalls, "they could fully understand the pressures and the injustice that had been served upon us, and the meeting became quite emotional when several of the Rotterdam wives became distraught. They were in tears, listening to our account." The Rotterdam women are well organised. Halinka Augustin is Secretary of the active group. She told WoW "we are right behind you".
"We picked up that they were discussing flexibility," Irene says. "We spoke to them about the impact of flexibility on the men and our families as well, the 12 hour shift system and how it ruled the whole of the family." The Rotterdam dockers realise that dockers are joining forces around the world. Sacked docker Tony Russell had already visited the port. Dockers gave WoW the strong impression they are now prepared to join in action, because they themselves don't want to be left isolated.
Ailko van der Veen, one of the organisers of the Euro March, had invited Irene and Collette to Amsterdam. WoW also participated in press conferences and meetings with the Amsterdam dockworkers, where the "All for One" video was screened.
"The Amsterdam dockers are having a lot of problems themselves. Their labour pool is almost bankrupt and they're afraid of losing their jobs. They face the threat of casualisation and know the employer wants to find people to do the jobs for less money.
"They know the pressure on them but they are fully behind the Liverpool struggle. They had 3 delegates in Montreal for the international dockworkers conference.
"They pledged that they will be taking part in the next international day of action. In January they had been unable to participate because of their own problems."
Amsterdam docker Harry Kappenoff helped organise a packed fringe meeting on the Sunday with delegates from 11 countries. Halinka Augustin joined the platform while Lars Hammerberg, a Swedish syndicalist and veteran of the Liverpool picket line turned up alongside Terje Collborn from Norway, who argued for a central fund to support industrial disputes. The Norwegians had recently sent Liverpool a large donation and told WoW another £8,000 was on the way (it has arrived).
WoW joined a press conference with women from Latin America and the Bangladesh
Kishani Sabha, fighting for women and children's rights and decent wages,
and for land rights.
"The Euro March itself was inspiring; we reckon if the police said
50,000 it must have been at least 80,000. The riot police were everywhere,
but we saw no trouble". Irene hadn't expected to speak, but was given
the platform to address the rally.
The 5 dockers and Michael Dooley who all travelled overnight sold every t-shirt they'd brought. Irene recalls "the men on the street, people from everywhere gathered around to hear them talk about the dispute, telling them 'you've got to win'. Jimmy Campbell put on quite a performance. People gathered round just to listen to the men, willing them to keep going. People seem to be standing up and fighting together, from all walks of life and all corners of the world. We'll never forget it."
After the Euro March, all demos were prohibited due to Tony Blair's arrival. The sirens were going all night, to keep protesters at bay.
LabourNet Report
