Boston frame-up foiled:
Anti-war, labor unity wins victory for Marcus Jean
By Steve Kirschbaum,
Boston Labor's ANSWER, member Steel Workers Local
8751
On Nov. 14, after less than 30 minutes of deliberation, a
West Roxbury Court jury returned its verdict of "not guilty" in
the case of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Boston school
bus driver Marcus Jean.
This brought to a successful conclusion a critical phase in
the struggle to win justice for Jean, an activist member of
Steel Workers Local 8751. It was also an important victory in
building unity between the anti-war movement and the movement
to defend labor's rights.
In his closing remarks to the jury, people's lawyer Barry
Wilson explained that this case represented Laidlaw Corp.'s
cynical use of the governments' post-Sept. 11 pro-war frenzy to
fire a union activist.
Wilson's remarks were reported in a front-page article
headlined "Bus Driver Cleared of Terror Threat Charges" in the
Boston Banner, the newspaper of Boston's African American
community.
Laidlaw, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had targeted
Jean as part of its policy to weed out unionists who resist the
firm's plans to downsize, cut wages and tighten its grip on the
work force.
On Jan. 30, Jean was involved in a minor disagreement with
another driver concerning a bus parking spot. Jean and his
union steward met with Readville Assistant Manager Diane Kelly
and resolved the matter. No warning or discipline of any kind
was issued.
The next morning Readville Terminal Manger Rick McLaughlin,
in a provocative and threatening manner, tried to interrogate
Jean about this same incident. Jean recognized that this was a
gross violation of his union rights. He called McLaughlin on
his racist discrimination and refused to submit to management
harassment.
The dispute came in the context of dozens of union cases
against McLaughlin for harassment, intimidation and threats
against union drivers. That afternoon McLaughlin went to the
police. He claimed that Jean had repeatedly threatened to blow
up the building and posed a serious "terrorist" threat.
The Boston Police Report cites Laidlaw Corp. as the
"victim." McLaughlin subsequently used this false charge to
fire Jean.
Laidlaw, govt conspire in 'Homeland Security'
frame-up
Government attacks on the labor movement are nothing new.
The Teamsters, AFSCME, Service Employees and Steel Workers are
just a few of the recent targets. Injunctions during strikes,
false charges under the RICO statutes, and fraudulent
prosecution by the Labor Department have become routine.
Bush's "enduring war" has upped the ante in the attacks on
labor. The Bush/ Ashcroft "Homeland Security" machine clearly
has the unions in its sights. The White House has given the
green light to Corporate America to use the "enduring war" to
declare war on union rights.
In a recent West Coast labor conflict, Homeland Security
boss Tom Ridge used a "national security" cover to threaten the
president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union
dock workers in California. Bush invoked the notorious
anti-union Taft-Hartly Act against the longshore union.
The March 2002 issue of Local 8751's rank-and-file
newsletter the Unity Bulletin explained that Marcus Jean's case
was part of "a national wave of government-directed
anti-immigrant hysteria sweeping the country." This wave
includes racist profiling, government detention of Arab people
without charges and racist violence against immigrant
communities.
It is in this context that the district attorney for
Massachusetts embarked on a 10-month prosecution of an innocent
Haitian-born union activist based on the uncorroborated story
of a racist Laidlaw boss.
Boston Labor's ANSWER leads struggle
Much of the union leadership on the local and national level
has been unable to respond to the corporate/government attacks
on the unions in the current war climate. This was the case
with Marcus Jean. The rank-and-file members, however, showed
they are ready to fight back.
Boston Labor's ANSWER, made up of activists from the
coalition Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, established the
Marcus Jean Defense Committee. The committee secured the top
criminal attorney in the region, people's lawyer Barry Wilson,
knowing that he would bring the struggle of the street into the
courtroom.
ANSWER activists launched a full-scale, al-out defense
campaign to mobilize support. This included packing every court
appearance, getting endorsers, holding picket lines and news
conferences, speaking at churches and community meetings, and
spreading the word through the Internet. The committee also
conducted a massive letter campaign to the district attorney
demanding that the charges be dropped.
Marcus Jean spoke at and marched in many ANSWER protests
against war on Iraq and in defense of Palestine. He was a
featured speaker at the June 29 rally against the Patriot Act,
at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.
This campaign to defend Marcus Jean was a concrete
expression of ANSWER's view that Bush's war has a domestic
front. Fighting on this front can help build unity with the
labor movement, which is vital to the anti-war movement.
The Marcus Jean Defense Committee will continue the struggle
to demand that Laidlaw reinstate him to his job with full back
pay and benefits.
Reprinted from the Dec. 5, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
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