In a case with far-reaching consequences for First Amendment and labor rights, supporters of the sacked Liverpool dockers, including members of the ILWU, are being dragged into court. And with tactics that echo those of a McCarthyite witch hunt, Yusen Terminals, Centennial Stevedoring Services and the Pacific Maritime Association are trying to make people "name names"-under oath-of anyone who so much as talked of picketing the container ship Neptune Jade last September.
The move is calculated to chill free speech and labor rights, to scare people from committing the "crime" of picketing or honoring a picket line. The employers are also doing it to add more people to the list they want to hold responsible for the monetary losses they allege they incurred because of the action. (for background see end of article)
Robert Irminger, picket captain and member of the ILWU's marine division, the Inlandboatmen's Union, was charged with contempt of court for continuing to picket after a court injunction limited the number of protestors on the line. The court offered Irminger a deal Oct. 20 in which he would plead guilty and face a minimal penalty. But attorneys for management balked, demanding Irminger get jail time, a large fine and pay its legal fees as a condition of the deal. Irminger refused and a hearing on his case was set for Nov. 18. More than 100 labor activists rallied outside the Alameda County Courthouse that morning to support Irminger and all unionists' right to picket and honor picket lines.
ILWU International President Brian McWilliams was joined by San Francico Labor Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Walter Johnson, Alameda County Labor Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Owen Marron, former California Governor Jerry Brown and many others in demanding the charges against Irminger and everyone else be dropped. The demonstrators then piled into Judge Vernon Nakahara's courtroom in a show of solidarity. At the hearing the employers tried to create an image of the picket line as violent and hostile, but the pictures they presented made it look peaceful. Even a PMA official testified under cross-examination that he drove his car back and forth across the line without harm. Nakahara ruled Dec.3 that Irminger did violate the court order and that it was a lawful order. But he found the violation to be "de minimus," that is, minimal, and sentenced Irminger to pay a fine of $100 or two days of community service.
"The judge should not have found Robert in contempt at all, but short of that, he's done the least he could," Irminger's attorney Dan Siegel said. "It's not the victory we wanted, but given that Yusen wanted five days in jail and a five or ten thousand dollar fine, they can't feel they got much out of this." Siegel said he was angry that now the employers have added to the list of defendants those people who testified on Irminger's behalf. "I've been practicing law for a long time, but this is one of the more outrageous examples of corporate abuse I've seen," he said. "It's vindictive beyond belief."
Irminger and ILWU longshore Local 10 Executive Board member Jack Heyman are still being sued for the monetary damages. Management attorneys have cast a broad net to drag in as defendants anyone who might have been involved in the action. Picketers and other demonstrators who did not walk the line have been added to the list. These include the Laney College Labor Studies Club, the Golden Gate Chapter of the Labor Party, the Peace and Freedom Party and various John Does associated with these groups. Curiously, former California Governor Jerry Brown, now an Oakland mayoral candidate, walked the picket line and made a public statement at the Irminger support rally attended by employer informants proudly proclaiming his role, and yet he has not been named. The ILWU International and Locals 10 and 34 also have been subpoenaed to provide information on the picketers.
Management is using the "discovery" procedures in the civil suit to try to force individuals and groups to turn over enormous amounts of information. The discovery demands ask defendants to identify everyone known to them at the picket; everyone who participated in the planning, organizing or arranging of any of the demonstrations; everyone in any way affiliated with the Committee for Victory to the Liverpool Dockers; and everyone who provided information about when longshore workers were scheduled to work the Neptune Jade. The discovery demands also ask for every communication-be it written, fax, e-mail, etc.-among any of these people. They also demand all documents referring to any "person, association, or organization...who participated in the planning, organizing or arranging of any of the demonstrations," including "without limitation, membership lists, organizational charts, articles of incorporation, by-laws, mission statements, minutes of meetings," as well as computer records, phone records, diaries, bank checks, receipts, etc.
The chilling effect of these court actions recall the dark days of McCarthy, when Harry Bridges was under frivolous investigations for imagined conspiracies. ILWU International President Brian McWilliams has instructed the union's attorneys object to most of the discovery requests on First Amendment grounds. "We've been asked for information that's absolutely inappropriate, information they are not entitled to," McWilliams said. "We're not even going to look to see if we have it."
Union attorney Robert Remar has filed an objection to the motion, arguing that, other than the dispatch records requested, the other information is privileged and protected by the First Amendment. In his response to the subpoena of the International Remar argues that all documents created or obtained by the ILWU's journalists at The Dispatcher are privileged and protected from disclosure not just by the First Amendment, but also by the California Constitution's Shield Law. That provision allows journalists to gather news and information without the fear of being compelled to become informants for the government. Remar also filed a motion under California's Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law-legislation that provides some protection against such lawsuits aimed at chilling the exercise of free speech rights-to strike the suit against Heyman. Attorney Dan Siegel filed a similar motion for Irminger, the Labor Party, and the Laney College Labor Studies Group. Heyman's case will be heard Feb. 26 and Irminger's will be heard March 2. Until then, the witch hunt is adjourned.
Many of the defendants are individuals (there are 500 "John Does" alone), with limited means for legal defense. Contributions may be made to: "Liverpool Dockers Victory Defense Committee/ PO Box 2574/ Oakland, CA 94614." ILWU clerks Local 34 will host a fundraiser for the Liverpool dockers supporters and defendants in the Neptune Jade case at its hall at 4 Berry St., San Francisco on Sunday, Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m. "Flickering Flame," a documentary film on the Liverpool struggle by award-winning director Ken Loach will be shown. ILWU International President Brian McWilliams and former California Governor Jerry Brown will speak. The defense case and its basic issues of democratic and trade union rights in the era of the global economy will also be explained.
When the Neptune Jade arrived at Oakland's Berth 23 on Sept. 28, 89 labor activists and supporters of the sacked Liverpool dockers threw up a picket line because the ship carried hot cargo loaded at a British port controlled by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, the outfit that fired the Liverpool dockers. Northern California Arbitrator Gerald Sutliff ruled the picket line a safety hazard and longshore workers were not required to cross it. Management went to court on the afternoon of the Sept. 29th for an injunction against the pickets, but was denied. The next day Sutliff changed his ruling and so did the court, granting an injunction limiting the number of pickets. After four days of picketing honored by ILWU longshore locals 10, 34 and 91 the ship sailed out of Oakland still unloaded Oct. 1. Her journey then took her up the coast to Vancouver, British Columbia where ILWU longshore workers also refused to cross a picket line to work the ship, and then on to Japan, where the All Japan Dockworkers Unions also refused to unload the scab cargo.
Neptune Orient Lines, the ship's owner, has since sold the vessel that has now sailed into legend in the international dockers' struggle against privatization.
