[Seattle-editorial] FEATURE PROPOSAL: ILWU

[jonathan lawson]

subtitle: ILWU: NO FEDERAL TROOPS ON THE DOCKS
title: Labor Unites Against Covert White House Unionbusting Plans

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) <a 
href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=16748">revealed</a> 
this week that the Bush administration has formed a <a 
href="http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/08/140143.php">secret White House 
Task Force</a> to consider possible Federal intervention in stalled 
negotiations between 10,000 west coast longshoremen and their employers, 
represented by the Pacific Maritime Association. The Bush task force has 
reportedly threatened to break up the ILWU's coastwide contract, and to 
invoke a seldom-used provision of the <a 
href="http://www.teamsterslocal399.com/Taft.html">Taft-Hartley Act</a> 
allowing the government to prevent strikes when the "national health or 
safety" is imperiled.

<p>Administration sources say they're discussing pre-empting possible ILWU 
actions by enlisting National Guard troops to operate the docks until the 
union is forced to agree to contract terms. Unions charge that the Bush 
administration and port bosses are trying to exploit concerns about 
national security and a fragile economy, using these concerns as an excuse 
to attack one of the nation's strongest unions.

<p>In Seattle, 25% of jobs are port-related. In Tacoma, 40% are 
port-related.  If Bush is able to break the back of the ILWU, all workers 
in the Puget Sound will pay the price. On <b>Monday, Aug. 12,</b> Seattle 
unions will hold a <a 
href="http://seattle.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=16751">March & 
Rally for a Fair Contract for West Coast Longshore Workers</a>. At 4:30, 
after a barbecue at pier 37, union regulars and supporters will march along 
Alaskan Way to rally at the pier 66 Cruise Terminal. Many of the area's 
unions have pledged their participation; and simultaneous rallies will take 
place in <a 
href="http://portland.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=15837">Portland</a> 
and in Oakland, site of large ILWU rallies earlier this summer.

<p><a href="http://www.ilwu.org">ILWU | <a 
href="http://portsolidarity2002.org">Port Solidarity Committee 2002</a> | 
<a href="http://sf.indymedia.org">SF Indymedia</a><br>
<a href="http://www.ilir.uiuc.edu/faculty/images/deathstrikes.pdf">Death by 
Lethal Injunction: National Emergency Strikes Under The Taft-Hartley Act 
(pdf)</a>