[Seattle-editorial] FEATURE PROPOSAL: ILWU

[Jason Reep]

yes!

At 04:32 PM 8/9/2002 -0700, jonathan lawson wrote:
>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>
>
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