[Peace-discuss] War on Terrorism turns on dockworkers

[Ricky Baldwin]

No Government Intervention/Oppose Taft-Hartley
No More PATCO¹s/Labor Action to Defend The Right To Strike
Defend The ILWU And All Labor Rights


The Charade Is Exposed

Bush¹s  "War On Terrorism"  is now being aimed squarely at the ILWU. 
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has called the ILWU leadership and told 
them they had better not go on strike. He also used a veiled threat that the 
army would be brought in to take over the docks and protect scabs if they 
did go on strike.
This open threat of union busting by Bush and Ridge has emboldened Pacific 
Maritime Association Pres. Miniace and the PMA bosses to take a hard line. 
The PMA bosses now include "union free" companies like Walmart, The Gap and 
Home Depot.  Why should they negotiate, when they think the government will 
use it¹s full weight to attack the union? They have demanded major 
concessions including eliminating the hiring hall, cutting healthcare 
benefits and destroying union jurisdiction.
These threats are not just aimed at the ILWU but all workers. Using the 
government¹s  logic, any strike could be a threat to national security. From 
airline workers and bus drivers to telephone workers, no one is safe. 
Already, they are demanding under the proposed Maritime Security Act that 
any longshoremen who has been convicted of a felony would be kicked off the 
docks and the government  and the bosses would have the right to "screen" 
any "disloyal" worker off the docks. Does this sound like the McCarthy 
period?
For this reason the AFL-CIO and the entire labor movement are beginning to 
rally around the fight of the ILWU. In order for this battle to be won, we 
must rely on the rank and file of organized labor and the communities.
If the ILWU goes on strike or is locked out we must make sure that there is 
no use of troops or the corporate controlled legislation to break the strike 
and destroy a coast wide contract that gives the union it¹s power.
We need to make our brothers and sisters aware that this fight is their 
fight and if troops are brought in, direct action in the streets and on the 
job  should be taken to stop Bush¹s union busting.


A Defeat For The ILWU Is A Defeat For ALL Workers


A defeat for the ILUW would be a defeat for unions in the United States and 
workers internationally. This is what Bush and his "Fast Track/Free Traders" 
are working for. They want to break the back of organized labor so they can 
impose wage cuts and destroy our union contracts as they have done to 
workers throughout the world using the IMF & World Bank. This is already the 
plan in the airline industry where the Democratic controlled US Senate 
helped pass a bill that forces airline workers to take wage cuts in order to 
make the airline eligible for government loans. At UAL and US Air, the 
bosses backed by the government are using the threat of bankruptcy to impose 
wage cuts.
At the same time the government and the Congress are now working to prepare 
for a war against Iraq. This war will not only be paid for by killing 
thousands of Iraqi¹s and Americans but by massive cutbacks on healthcare, 
social services and social security. Their war on Iraq is a war on all 
working people and they will use the war hysteria to also attack the ILWU. 
The Bush gang is already saying that they have to eliminate union rights for 
over 170,000 federal workers who they want to transfer into the "Homeland 
Security Department".
We cannot allow Bush to get away with this. We must stand united to stop the 
union busting and the so called "war on terrorism" which is really  aimed at 
US workers. Join the Portworkers Solidarity Committee to support the ILWU 
struggle. Get a speaker and video to your union to explain what the issues 
are and how your union can become involved. Your basic rights are under 
threat!
An Injury To One Is An Injury To All

Portworkers Solidarity Committee
solidarity1934_2002 at hotmail.com
www.portsolidarity2002.org



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