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NEWS & LETTERS, August-September 2001 Back Charleston 5! The case of the "Charleston Five" (four Blacks and one white, in a predominantly Black union) reveals every bit as much as what protests in Seattle, Quebec and Genoa have highlighted-namely, the anti-human, anti-democratic nature of capital. This case reveals how the state's police and legal system team up with corporate power to attack workers' basic rights, like freedom of association and free speech. The upcoming trial of the Charleston Five reveals the mockery that is made of "constitutional democracy" by the capitalist powers themselves. According to the DISPATCHER (newspaper of the west coast International Longshore & Warehouse Union), the trouble began Oct. 1, 1999 when Nordana Lines notified the east coast International Longshoremens' Association (ILA) locals it was ending its 23-year relationship with the union and would begin using non-union labor to work its ships. The local responded with picket lines. After peaceful pickets resulted in slight delays to two Nordana ships, South Carolina-which prides itself on being a "right-to-work state" and advertises itself to investors as having the lowest rate of unionization in the country, 4.2% -decided it was going to break the union's power. On Jan. 20 the state sent in some 600 police in riot gear to protect the "right" of some 20 scabs to work the Nordana ship. Charleston police rode on horses and armored vehicles. Helicopters circled overhead, and police patrol boats cruised the waterside of the terminal. Ken Riley, president of ILA Local 1422, said, "You would think there was going to be a terrorist attack on the State of South Carolina." It was actually something more fearsome to the capitalists, their absolute
fear of the power of workers when they freely associate and express themselves and strive to regain control of their own labor. This kind of
free speech the capitalists cannot allow. It is no accident that the most vehemently anti-workers' rights states also happen to be the very same
states that have had a long history of quashing any uprisings by Black people in search of freedom. This long track record of unfreedom stretches
from the days of slavery. Charleston was the major port of entry for human That South Carolina is a "right-to-work" state goes with its demagogic assertion of a "right to fly" the Confederate flag in the name of Southern "heritage." Ken Riley and Local 1422 helped lead the fight against flying the Confederate flag over the state capitol building. The South Carolina attorney general, Charles Condon, who chaired the Bush campaign in the state, said electing Bush was the way to make South Carolina union free. Arrests of the Charleston Five and other attacks on Black labor organizing in the South bear an eerie resemblance to China's attacks on labor activities it deems "illegal." What's "illegal" is any form of free expression by workers of their drive to self-determination and control of their labor. What's "illegal" is a direct confrontation with capital's absolute right to move freely and establish its dominance over living labor. If the Charleston Five lose this case, it would threaten the very heart and essence of the labor-movement-the fundamental right to picket in defense of your job. Now more than ever, labor's refrain-"an injury to one is an injury to all"-rings true in our rapidly expanding global economy. It was Marx who saw that the Civil War victory over slavery would unleash the birth of a labor movement in this country. Today we need a similar rebirth through a new coalescence between workers everywhere, challenging us to break not just the jurisdictional or professional barriers, but, more crucially, the geographic and color barriers. The ILWU, Swedish Dockworkers, International Dockworkers' Council, and
International Transport Workers Federation have passed resolutions calling The ILWU is calling for help: * Start or join local defense committees-Call (803) 798-8300 for the contact nearest you. * Participate in the International Day of Action. * Donate to the defense fund. Please make checks to "Dockers Defense Fund" and send to the Campaign for Workers' Rights in South Carolina, P.O. Box 21777, Charleston, SC 29413. |
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