Date: Wed, 28 Jan 1998 15:29:38 -0800
From: Albert Lannon <avlannon@sfsu.edu>
For those who may not have heard of this outrageous assault on academic freedom, free speech, and student activism, following is a brief account, update, and call for action supported by the Labor-Faculty Network.
Over two years ago 500 Liverpool dockers were fired by the privatized Mersey Docks & Harbors Co.for refusing to cross a picketline. Acts of solidarity by dockworkers around the world have kept the case alive, including two shutdowns of the west coast by the ILWU. On September 29, 1997, a Mersey-loaded ship, the Neptune Jade, arrived in Oakland. Dockworkers refused to cross a picketline made up of labor and community activists, and some members of the Laney College Labor Studies Club. Two days later a temporary restraining order was obtained by Pacific Maritime Assn. limited pickets to four in the driveway of Berth 23. Mass picketing continued. After four days the ship sailed to Vancouver with its cargo still aboard where longshore workers refused to unload it. Then it went to Yokohama, where the Mersey-loaded cargo was left aboard. The ship was sold to Taiwan, and rumor has it the new name is "The Flying Dutchman." (Late word is that the Liverpool dockers have decided to call off their picketing, shifting the focus of solidarity actions directly to defense of Oakland demonstrators.)
Pacific Maritime Association, as part of a new "get-tough" employer policy towards the ILWU, is suing all concerned, the ILWU, individual pickets, Laney College Labor Studies Club, Labor Party,Peace and Freedom Party (all identified by their banners) and "John Does," meaning any names they can find. Picket Captain Robert Irminger was tried for contempt, violating the TRO; the judge found the violation "de minimis" and the picketing peaceful, and imposed a small fine. Several people who testified for Robert are now being named as defendants.
Defendants are supposed to respond to plaintiff's interrogatories and answer questions like Name Everyone You Know Who Attended the Demonstrations, What Political Parties Have You Ever Belonged To?, etc. The Laney College Labor Studies Department Chair was told to produce membership lists of the Labor Studies Club and name names.
Lawyers for several defendants filed anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) motions, the first of which will be heard on February 26. Other legal actions seem to be on hold pending action on the anti-SLAPP motions. The Liverpool Dockers' Victory Defense Committee has called for a rally at the office of Pacific Maritime Association preceding the hearing on the anti-SLAPP motion.
At Laney College, some 150 letters and e-mails from educators and others throughout the US and around the world have convinced a reluctant administration to provide at least temporary representation for the Labor Studies Dept. chair, but not for the Labor Studies Club. The administration has introduced rules for student organizations prohibited picketing, boycotting or demonstrating, meeting between school sessions, or carrying their banner which reads "Laney College Labor Studies Club." (Curiously, Laney President Earnest Crutchfield says that wearing Laney hats or tee shirts at demonstrations is okay, just not the banner.) The student Inter-Club Council has voted to reject the administrations rules, and to "direct" the administration not to release names of students to the employer attorneys. So far the school is agreeing not to release names, although they've made it clear that they will not stand up to a judge's order if one comes down the road.
The Peralta Federation of Teachers is supporting Labor Studies and has directed a resolution to the Board of Trustees. PFT resolutions are also going to the CFT convention and the Labor Council, which has sent its own letter of concern to school officials.
So:
On February 26, 1998, when the first anti-SLAPP motion is to be heard
in Oakland Superior Court, Dept. 81, there will be a lively and legal demonstration
at 8 a.m. at the headquarters of the Pacific Maritime Association, 500 -
12th Street, downtown Oakland. From there we will march at 9:30 to the court
hearing at 10 a.m. and fill the court room. The hearing is at Superior Court
Department 81, in the Post Office building at13th & Jackson. At noon,
just a few blocks away, there will be a rally in the commons area in the
center of Laney College. Laney is at 10th & Fallon.
Please join us in struggling for free speech, free assembly, the right of teachers not to become informers, and the rights of students to take what they learn into the real world. For more information call Ellen Starbird or Albert Lannon, Laney College Labor Studies, 510/464-3210.
UNITY !! SOLIDARITY !! STRUGGLE !!
