Part of coast to coast April 4 solidarity
Workers shut ports
By
LeiLani Dowell
Published Apr 6, 2011 5:14 PM
San Francisco
WW photo: Judy Greenspan
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On the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr., workers shut down the ports of San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., for 24
hours as part of a national day of solidarity with Wisconsin workers and
workers who are fighting union busting.
According to Clarence Thomas, a dockworker, union activist and executive board
member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10, dockworkers
unanimously agreed to honor a national call for a “no business as
usual” day on April 4 in support of public sector workers in Wisconsin
and their fight for collective bargaining rights. More than 1,000 actions were
held throughout the country, with at least one in every U.S. state.
Milwaukee
WW photo: Jill Hill
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With only one ship in the Oakland port on April 4 — perhaps because the
port bosses got wind of the planned work stoppage — not enough workers
reported to work to even unload that ship. “This was a voluntary rank and
file action — an organized act of resistance,” said Thomas.
“It is significant that the action by Local 10 was taken in solidarity
with Wisconsin public sector workers who are facing the loss of collective
bargaining.”
Management had suggested that Local 10 use its monthly meeting on April 4 to
honor Dr. King, but Local 10 members rejected the proposal, preferring to
voluntarily lose a day’s pay. King, who was killed in Memphis while
demanding collective bargaining for sanitation workers, had been named an
honorary member of Local 10 six months before his death.
“So we’ve come full circle,” Thomas concluded. The Memphis
public workers got their union, after a two-month strike. Now 40 years later
their Wisconsin counterparts are threatened with losing theirs. But it is
Wisconsin’s “fierce resistance that is inspiring all of us
today.” In addition to the actions on the docks, thousands of workers
took to the streets in the Bay Area on April 4 to support the struggle in
Wisconsin and to commemorate King’s assassination.
Members of the Oakland Education Association attempted to occupy the lobby of
the downtown Oakland Wells Fargo Bank to protest bank bailouts in the face of
education cuts. The bank locked its doors before the OEA members could enter.
At a spirited rally that effectively shut down the bank for three hours, OEA
President Betty Olson-Jones said, “We are one with Wisconsin, Ohio and
the workers and poor across the country.”
March 24, New York.
WW photo: John Catalinotto
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“We Are One” with Wisconsin workers was also the theme of a noon
rally called by the Alameda County AFL-CIO Labor Council. More than 1,000 union
members representing nurses, teachers, painters, engineers, domestic workers,
janitors and others attended. Speakers demanded that the banks and the rich be
held responsible for the economic crisis — not the workers.
In the late afternoon, several thousand union members marched through San
Francisco’s financial district, stopping at all of the major banks and
demanding an end to their massive bailouts at the expense of poor and working
people. A final rally was held in front of the Federal Reserve Bank’s San
Francisco office.
Detroit
WW photo: Bryan G. Pfeifer
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ATLANTA
About 700 people marched from the King gravesite in Atlanta to the state
Capitol building for a rally that featured Martin Luther King III. Among the
participants were union members from the Teamsters; the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees Union; the Service Employees union; the
Machinists union; the United Auto Workers; the International Electrical Workers
union; UNITE-HERE; the Communication Workers union; and firefighters.
Raleigh, N.C.
Photo: Ajamu Dillahunt
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There was a large contingent in support of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis.
People wore “I am Troy Davis” T-shirts and gathered signatures on a
petition to the pardons and parole board demanding clemency. The International
Action Center carried a banner reading, “Stop the attack on unions!
Defend workers’ rights from Wisconsin to Georgia.”
NORTH CAROLINA
March 27, Los Angeles.
WW photo: Cheryl LaBash
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More than 300 workers and community members turned out to North
Carolina’s legislative building in unity with demonstrations across the
country. North Carolina, which has had a ban on collective bargaining for
public employees since the Jim Crow era, is one of the least unionized states
in the country. Yet this demonstration, along with others in recent months,
shows a trend of renewed strength within North Carolina’s labor
movement.
The demonstration was a joint effort by United Electrical Local 150; the N.C.
Public Service Workers Union; the North Carolina AFL-CIO; the North Carolina
NAACP; the Farm Labor Organizing Committee; People’s Durham; Southerners
on New Ground; and Raleigh Fight Imperialism, Stand Together as part of a newly
formed Labor, Faith, and Civil Rights Coalition in Defense of the Public
Sector. The coalition first mobilized in solidarity with Wisconsin workers two
months ago.
The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, North Carolina NAACP president, affirmed the
historic joint struggle of the labor movement and the oppressed. “The
demands of the Black freedom movement have always been the same demands as
labor, and those that attack the labor movement with lies and propaganda from
one side of their mouth, turn around and spread racist hatred with the other
side.” Sendolo Diaminah, an education activist and organizer for the
lesbian/gay/bi/trans/queer group SONG, spoke about the need for unity in the
face of divisive oppression: “Queer folks are your neighbors, workmates,
and have been in the struggle for justice alongside you. We need everyone in
this movement!”
Two recently fired workers that are members of UE Local 150, state mental
health worker Rebecca Hart and sanitation worker Kerry Bigelow, addressed the
crowd, along with Diego Reyes from FLOC. Local 150 recently fought for and won
introduction of House Bill 287, a Mental Health Workers Bill of Rights, into
the state House of Representatives, along with Senate Bill 386, a bill to
repeal the ban on collective bargaining.
PENNSYLVANIA
Hundreds of students and union members rallied in Philadelphia on April 4
outside Temple University’s Liacouras Center against proposed state cuts
in funding for education and in solidarity with workers in Milwaukee, Ohio,
Florida and other states under attack from union-busting, pro-business
politicians. Participating unions included the Service Employees union, the
Letter Carriers union, AFSCME, the Transit Workers Union, the American
Federation of Teachers, the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and the Temple
University Graduate Student Association. Speakers addressed the significance of
King’s support of Memphis sanitation workers’ right to unionize in
light of anti-union attacks today.
Earlier in the day, city workers staged a break-time walkout, standing outside
municipal buildings with signs against the proposed cuts and the Philadelphia
city administration’s refusal to bargain in good faith with their
unions.
In a truly united effort by labor, more than 700 workers and community
supporters from the United Electrical union, the Steel Workers union, TWU, AFT,
the Food and Commercial Workers union, UNITE-HERE, the Mine Workers union,
SEIU, Citizens Against Marcellus Pollution, the Sierra Club and others rallied
in Pittsburgh as part of the “We Are One” rallies on April 4.
An opening rally was held in front of the EQT energy company, one of
Pennsylvania’s most notorious natural gas, shale fracking companies. EQT
has made hundreds of millions of dollars in profits without paying any taxes.
Meanwhile, public transportation fares have recently been jacked up by 25 cents
while several routes and services in general have been cut.
The crowd then marched down the street to Gov. Tom Corbett’s office
building. Corbett recently released his budget proposal, which included major
job cuts in mental health, education and other services, including a 50 percent
cut from several state universities. Marchers occupied the lobby of
Corbett’s office while chanting, “They say cut back! We say fight
back!”
NEW YORK CITY
Several thousand unionists and supporters joined an after-work rally near City
Hall in downtown Manhattan called by the Communication Workers union. Speakers
emphasized that Wisconsin and New York workers have a lot in common. Even
though Wisconsin’s Gov. Walker is a Tea Party Republican and New York
state’s Gov. Cuomo is a Democrat, one speaker said they are both
attacking workers and blaming unions for their state’s economic problems.
And both are trying to solve problems by imposing draconian cuts and
layoffs.
Another speaker mentioned New York state’s Taylor Law, which makes it
illegal for public sector workers to strike. “When you combine this with
the hailstorm of imposed cuts and new work rules, it’s pretty much the
same as eliminating collective bargaining,” he said.
Many rally participants expressed shock when they heard that New York banks get
$25 billion each year in tax-free interest on bonds from the city and the state
governments as well as public agencies that manage public transportation,
bridges and tunnels.
Dave Welsh, Judy Greenspan, Andy Koch, Cheryl LaBash, Dianne Mathiowetz,
Betsey Piette and Dee Knight contributed to this article.
Articles copyright 1995-2012 Workers World.
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