600 longshore workers shouting "No Justice, No Work!" rallied in front of Superior Court in downtown Oakland in the morning of July 22, to protest a legal attack by the Pacific Maritime Association on the ILWU.
Angry longshoremen quickly filled the small courtroom, then filled the steps of the building and poured out into the street. Because of the number of longshoremen participating in the rally, port shutdowns in Oakland and San Francisco occurred for the day at most of the terminals.
The case began last September when longshoremen and clerks refused to cross a picket line against the scab ship Neptune Jade in solidarity with the Liverpool dockers. (Even the arbitrator ruled in the union's favor.) PMA sued labor activist picketers and the union and is now demanding the International of the ILWU and Locals 10 and 34 hand over their union records in a blatant effort to have the union possibly finger its own members who PMA appparently believes may have been involved in the solidarity action. Protestors demanded suits be dropped against the union and the Neptune Jade defendants.
Rank and file longshoremen see this as employer intimidation striking at the very heart of the ILWU, whose motto, "An injury to one is an injury to all" has been its guiding light since its formation in 1937, three years after leading the militant 1934 West Coast maritime strike. The union has a proud history of labor solidarity with striking California farmworkers in 60's and 70's to black South Africans struggling against apartheid in the 70's and 80's.
Many see this action and other recent solidarity actions as a warm up for upcoming contract negotiations. With a contract deadline less than a year away a contentious PMA is seeking to "reform" longshore practises.
Stevedore companies, on the offensive, have been undermining working conditions and busting dockworkers' unions around the world. Aside from prohibiting solidarity actions, PMA has its eyes set on eliminating union control of the hiring hall, as well as "lifetime benefits" for retirees, hard-won gains which longshoremen hold close to their hearts and will almost certainly provoke a strike if the PMA insists on their elimination.
Last March, Superior Court Judge Needham threw out the bulk of the cases "with prejudice" against the PMA, noting that the defendants were exercising First Amendment rights of free speech. Last week the PMA appealed the judge's decision, challenging the constitutional rights of the picketers, including soon-to-be mayor of Oakland, Jerry Brown.
The latest waterfront scuttlebutt is that PMA is continuing with its blustery anti-union court suits, suing the union for the July 22 rally. Rank and file longshore workers in West Coast ports are likely to respond to PMA attacks on basic democratic and trade union rights with more "No Justice, No Work!" protests.
