<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<big><big><br>
</big></big>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big>
<style><!--
.hmmessage P
{
margin:0px;
padding:0px
}
body.hmmessage
{
font-size: 12pt;
font-family:Calibri
}
--></style>
<div dir="ltr"><font style="" size="-1">
<div class="subheadlinestyle"><big><big><font
style="font-size: 16pt;" size="4"><big><big>With
Longshore Workers Support </big></big></font></big></big></div>
<big><big> </big></big>
<h1 class="article-title"><big><big>How Protests Against
Israeli Bombing of Gaza Stopped Zim Ships</big></big></h1>
<big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/12/how-protests-against-israeli-bombing-of-gaza-stopped-zim-ships/"
target="_blank">http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/12/how-protests-against-israeli-bombing-of-gaza-stopped-zim-ships/</a></big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big> </big></big>
<div class="mainauthorstyle"><big><big>by JACK HEYMAN<br>
<br>
</big></big></div>
<big><big> </big></big>
<div class="main-text"><big><big> Protests against the Israeli
bombing of Gaza erupted around the world but none had a
more powerful impact than picketers in the port of
Oakland, California in August and September.
International calls for workers protest actions were
made by the Palestinian General Federation of Trade
Unions (PGFTU), the International Transport Workers
Federation and the International Dockworkers Council
(IDC), as well as an urgent call for action by the
Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
National Committee. Messages of support for labor action
were sent to the International Longshore and Warehouse
Union (ILWU) Local 10 by dockworkers unions Spain and
England. Longshoremen and Bay Area activists took the
initiative to act in solidarity with the plight of
Palestinians.</big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big>
After an initial attempt on August 2, several thousand
turned out for a rally called by the Block the Boat
(BtB) coalition on Saturday August 16. However, this was
not an action to stop the cargo operations with a </big></big><big><big><em>picket
line</em></big></big><big><big> against the Zim
Piraeus because Israeli-owned Zim Lines delayed the
ship’s arrival, not surprisingly, to avoid the protests.
Zim had done so during an Oakland protest in 2010.
Instead, this was a spirited port rally as the ship
stemmed the tide offshore. Leaders of BtB ended the
rally, declaring a “victory” without further plans for
picketing the ship’s docking later at Stevedore Services
of America (SSA) Berth 57.</big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
Independent Bay Area activists pressed for a picket and
the following day, belatedly, BtB organizers acceded and
called for a blockade on Sunday August 17, as the ship
was docking at the SSA Terminal just in time for the
night shift. A few hundred picketed the gates as
longshore workers honored their picket line. The ship
was not worked for that first shift. Subsequent
picketing was done mainly by autonomous activists, some
from Occupy’s remnants, others from BtB and the
Transport Workers Solidarity Committee (TWSC). Again,
ILWU members honored the lines, but picketers questioned
where the BtB leadership was and why a call to mobilize
pickets hadn’t gone out sooner? A head of steam picked
up with longshore support to continue the picketing and
stop the cargo operation with the successful picketing
of each shift, day and night.</big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big>
By August 19, Zim Lines’ anger had reached a boiling
point. After three days of effective picketing with
longshoremen honoring the line, the ship’s sailing board
was set for the afternoon. But this ploy to deceive
longshore workers and picketers didn’t work. TWSC
received a heads up message that afternoon from a
longshore supporter. Zim was moving ‘”the ship over to
berth 22 tonight, inform everyone!!!”</big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
Sure enough the Zim Piraeus let go lines at Berth 57 as
if it were heading out to sea. Just outside the Golden
Gate Bridge she made a U turn and headed to Ports
America Berth 22 where pickets were already set up.
However, this time rather than ordering longshoremen
from the union hiring hall, Zim pulled a quickie as they
had tried in 2010. They shifted longshore workers from
another ship to the Zim ship. The longshore contract
allows employers to shift gangs, but there was no
contract. It had expired July 1. As maritime employers
were hammering the union in concessionary bargaining,
workers were free to do as they pleased. Some refused to
be shifted. Others, coerced by company managers and
union officials, worked the Zim Piraeus slowly, very
slowly. One crane operator boasted barely any of the
cargo was moved. Frustrated, Zim’s “flying Dutchman”
shifted to Anchorage 9 awaiting berth. Finding none, she
sailed 5:30PM August 20 for her next port of call,
Vostochny, Russia.<br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big></big></big><big><big>
This was a dramatic victory for those protesting the
genocidal Zionist attack on Gaza. It inspired others to
try to organize similar actions in ports in the U.S. and
Canada. None clearly met with Oakland’s success. Some
were able to delay the vessel an hour or so. Others
simply informed longshore workers by leafleting. An
“outside/inside” action requires the solidarity of
longshore workers who discharge and load the containers.
If they cross the picket line, use a side gate or enter
when no pickets are present, the ship’s cargo will be
worked. It’s not easy to build solid links with
waterfront unions but Palestinian activists are trying.</big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big>
Some activists wanted to picket Zim again in September,
but the BtB leadership opposed the idea. So, the Stop
Zim Action Committee (SZAC) was formed to picket the Zim
Shanghai on September 27. Their picket line included
three retired longshoremen who had been organizers of
the ILWU’s 1984 anti-apartheid action, more than a dozen
who had participated in the 2010 anti-Zim picket and
four activists who had been on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla
which was bloodily attacked by the Israeli Defense
Forces (IDF). All picketers wore their “battle scars”
proudly.</big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
</big></big><big><big><strong>Workers’ Action: The Most
Powerful Solidarity</strong></big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big>
In 2009, the South African dockworkers union protested
Zionist atrocities by refusing to unload the Israeli
ship Johanna Russ in Durban. Similarly the Swedish
dockworkers in 2010 protested the Israeli Defense Force
(IDF) killings of humanitarian aid workers on board the
Gaza Freedom Flotilla by refusing to work an Israeli
ship. Anti-Zim protesters cite the 1984 anti-apartheid
strike in San Francisco by longshoremen to show the
ILWU’s history of solidarity actions. But that one and
these other dockworker actions were organized by the
workers themselves. They were not BDS actions with
community picket lines. They were expressions of workers
power! Howard Keylor, the 89-year- old retired
longshoreman who made the longshore union motion will be
the first to point that out.<br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big></big></big><big><big>
Nor did the anti-Zim protest on the morning of September
27 require a picket line at the SSA terminal gate
because longshore gangs didn’t show up to work the Zim
Shanghai. An announcement was made at the hiring hall
about the picketing. Only one union member took a
dispatch slip to work Zim. </big></big><big><big><em>This
was longshore workers solidarity in action. </em></big></big><big><big>Longshore
workers are in a heated contract battle with their
employers, the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA).
Without a contract in place SSA had no recourse. So they
offered a deal with the union. If, on the evening shift
the jobs would be filled, the employers would make sure
there was no police presence.</big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big>
During the August and September protests against the Zim
ships, the ILWU International officers issued erroneous
statements to the press that the longshoremen weren’t
going to work because the pickets posed a threat and
ILWU hadn’t taken a position on Zionist oppression of
Palestinians. </big></big><big><big><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.labournet.net/docks2/1410/TWSC1.html">http://www.labournet.net/docks2/1410/TWSC1.html</a></big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big>
However, the Local 10 president explained that ILWU’s
experience has been that in protest situations like this
and the 2003 anti-war protests in the port </big></big><big><big><em>the
police</em></big></big><big><big> </big></big><big><big><em>are
the threat not the protesters</em></big></big><big><big>.
He was referring to then-Mayor Jerry Brown’s OPD opening
fire with so-called non-lethal weapons on anti-war
protesters and longshore workers alike. This cost the
city over $2,000,000 paid to victims of the police
attack including ILWU Local 10. This act of police
brutality was listed in the UN’s annual report on human
rights.</big></big><big><big> <br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
(</big></big><big><big><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2004/04/united-nations-report-on-oakland-port.html">http://danielborgstrom.blogspot.com/2004/04/united-nations-report-on-oakland-port.html</a></big></big><big><big>)</big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big>
So, the deal was sealed between the union and SSA. All
the jobs were filled on the evening dispatch and the
police were removed by SSA from the vicinity of the
terminal. Longshoremen informed the pickets about the
union/SSA deal, assuring them that Local 10 would honor
the line. With no police to violate free speech rights,
picketers blocked the main gate with cars and pickets.
Longshoremen saw the picket line, drove to another
terminal and stood by with their union official. With no
longshore workers the Zim Shanghai couldn’t be worked.
Not one container was moved after two full shifts. Zim
sent her down to LA. Irate Zionists were calling for the
arrest of the protesters but to no avail.</big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
One must view these Zim protests in the context of
ILWU’s militant history. </big></big><big><big><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABosvjawnj4">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABosvjawnj4</a></big></big><big><big>
The ILWU initiated class struggle actions for social
justice– to free Angela Davis in 1972 and Mumia
Abu-Jamal in 1999, for justice for Oscar Grant’s family
in 2010, to protest the police brutality against WTO
protesters in Seattle also in 1999, to show solidarity
with besieged Wisconsin state workers in 2011, refusing
to load military cargo to the juntas in Chile and El
Salvador in the 1970’s and ‘80’s and on May Day 2008
shut down all West Coast ports calling for an end to the
imperialist wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. None of these
union actions was contingent on “community support” but
many were bolstered by community mobilizations. The
first anti-Israeli job action by a union in the U.S. was
in 2010 by Local 10 in Oakland in which the TWSC played
a leading role. Protesting the IDF killings on the Gaza
Freedom Flotilla, the action depended on support from
the San Francisco Labor Council, PGFTU and a
mobilization of Palestinian activists. Some 1,200
protesters picketed SSA gates as longshoremen honored
the picket line based on the “health and safety”
provision of the contract.</big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
</big></big><big><big><strong>BDS Won’t End Israeli
Occupation – It Didn’t Bring Down South African
Apartheid</strong></big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
The BDS call for an ongoing boycott of all Israeli
shipping is illusory, misguided and would, in reality,
undermine international labor solidarity, aside from
penalizing Oakland longshore workers who have already
sacrificed wages by supporting the protests. Even the
BDS in Palestine does not support an ongoing ship
boycott. And what of Palestinians who work for Israeli
companies in Israel and in Palestinian territories.
Should they quit their jobs or demand the companies
close? Consumer boycotts have proven ineffective and
cultural boycotts would prevent anti-Zionist professors
from speaking at Israeli universities. In the U.S. and
Canada professors of Palestinian descent are
increasingly under attack by Zionists for their
pro-Palestinian views and must be defended. The other
two pillars of the BDS campaign are based on illusions
that capitalists and their imperialist government’s can
be made to withdraw support for the proxy that does
their bloody bidding in the Near East, the Zionist state
of Israel. The imperialist U.S. government, the biggest
war criminal of all, sends over $3 billion dollars in
military aid to Israel. BDS won’t stop that.</big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
</big></big><big><big><em>The racist South African
apartheid regime was brought down not by a liberal BDS
campaign but especially by waves of militant strikes
by the black working class.</em></big></big><big><big>
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa
(NUMSA) continues that class struggle today by giving no
support to the ANC Tripartite government responsible for
the 2012 massacre of striking Marikana miners. They call
for building a workers party to advance the struggle and
nationalize the mines under workers control.</big></big><big><big><br>
</big></big><big><big>
A serious working class program to end Zionist
depredation of the Palestinian people would require
Palestinian and Israeli workers linking up in a struggle
against their common enemies, the Israeli and Arab
capitalists to end the blockade of Gaza and illegal
Israeli settlements, to tear down the West Bank
“apartheid wall” and the exclusionary, inherently
anti-democratic Zionist state. The right of return for
Palestinians can only be won on a socialist basis of
sharing the checkerboard land of interpenetrated
peoples. The call must go beyond freeing, isolated
Bantustans in Gaza and the West Bank and for a single
workers state, a socially integrated Palestine, as part
of a socialist federation of the Near East.</big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
Already Israeli port workers in Haifa have struck twice
in October against the capitalists’s port privatization
plans. And the racist Netanyahu’s expansionist
settlements and anti-Islamist provocations in Jerusalem
must be stopped. But how? In the early stages of the
Israeli state, Palestinian and Israeli workers engaged
in joint strikes against their bosses. And it was not
that long ago that ostensibly Marxist Palestinian
parties existed where now Islamist and nationalist
parties dominate. That political landscape can change
through a common class struggle of the Palestinian and
Israeli workers against their common oppressors backed
up by real international labor solidarity in action.</big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
</big></big><big><big><strong>Solidarity to Stop Zionist
Attacks and Defend ILWU Against PMA</strong></big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
The actions of Oakland longshore workers in solidarity
with their sisters and brothers under the Zionist guns
in Palestine is a vivid proof of the power of workers
solidarity action. If these actions are to be repeated
on the West Coast and around the world, then it is high
time to use that power in support of ILWU longshore
workers as they face the PMA bosses’ offensive of
harassment and arbitrary firings. They supported the
protesters picket lines. Now the protesters must offer
to mobilize support if longshore workers set up picket
lines in their struggle. Union waterfront workers have
the power and they should use it </big></big><big><big><em>now</em></big></big><big><big>
to smash the PMA’s union-busting offensive. But the ILWU
International leadership has abandoned its union’s proud
legacy of the working class fighting to defend its own
interests and those of all the oppressed, as indicated
by their press statements distancing union support for
the anti-Zim protesters. What’s needed above all is a
union leadership committed to mobilizing the power of
class struggle rather than seeking refuge in the
dead-end of class collaboration. The way to forge that
leadership is in the heat of the labor battles which are
now upon us.</big></big><big><big><br>
<br>
</big></big><big><big>
</big></big><big><big><strong><em>Jack Heyman</em></strong></big></big><big><big><em>,
chair of the Transport Workers Solidarity Committee,
is a retired Oakland longshoreman. He has helped
organize many of the ILWU dock protests since the 1984
anti-apartheid boycott action.</em></big></big><br>
</div>
</font> </div>
<br>
</div>
<br>
</body>
</html>