SAN FRANCISCO
Labor supports Charleston 5
By Keith
Pavlik
San Francisco
Ken Riley, president of ILA Local 1442 of the East Coast
longshore workers, addressed a San Francisco rally in defense
of the Charleston Five on July 21. The five dockworkers from
Charleston, S.C., were arrested in January 2000 while on a
picket line to defend their jobs.
A vengeful prosecutor has charged them with felonies that
could result in five-year jail sentences if found guilty. They
are held under house arrest while awaiting trial, scheduled for
September.
The leadership and members of the local are primarily
African American. Shippers are trying to use racism to divide
the workers and erode support for the union. Riley pointed out,
however, that a growing movement against racism shows that this
divide-and-conquer strategy is backfiring on the bosses.
Addressing the issue of the Confederate flag, which has been
flown at South Carolina's state Capitol, Riley said, "The flag
is one symbol of oppression in South Carolina. This struggle
has everything to do with the flag. It has everything to do
with racism in the state." Following a mass rally at the South
Carolina Capitol in June called by the AFL-CIO, support has
continued to build for the longshore workers.
Sponsored by ILWU Local 10 and several northern California
central labor councils, the forum drew 150 trade unionists and
supporters.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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