Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Last night, at a Seattle City Council hearing attended by hundreds (and perhaps over 1000) people, I read the following statement from ILWU International President Brian McWilliams:
December 8, 1999
Dear Seattle City Council:
Going into the week of events around the World Trade Organization’s meeting, the City of Seattle made several gestures welcoming labor’s demonstrations and the free speech of other protesters. The ILWU and labor in general felt legitimized and part of a democratic process.
But early in the morning of Tuesday, November 30, hours before a handful of agitators started smashing windows, police began tear-gassing demonstrators. Police tactics escalated from there.
Unionists, environmentalists and other social justice activists engaging in nonviolent, Constitutionally-protected expressions of opposition were treated by law enforcement personnel as if they were in a police state. The indiscriminate use of tear gas, rubber bullets, arrests and other excessive force were unconscionable. The imposition of the curfew and no-protest zone, the inhumane treatment of those arrested and the assault on the Capitol Hill neighborhood were outrageous violations of people’s Constitutional rights.
This systematic suspension of the protesters’ Constitutional rights continued at the same time the WTO ministers in the Convention Center were perpetrating violent acts against workers and the environment everywhere.
The ILWU hopes city officials will investigate all the allegations of governmental overreaction and police misconduct, and take appropriate action to right these wrongs.
Sincerely,
Brian McWilliams
International President
ILWU
The response from the audience was terrific. The ILWU was one of the few Unions to testify at the hearings, called in response to the suspension of the Bill of Rights and assaults on protesters in Seattle last week. For those in the Puget Sound, you should know that the number of people wanting to speak was so great that, following seven-and-a-half hours of hearings last night, the Council has scheduled additional hearings next Tuesday, December 14 at Seattle Center.
In solidarity,
Paul Bigman
International Organizer
ILWU Puget Sound
