Transport Workers Solidarity Committee

http://www.mua.org.au/events/460_20080513.html

Back in the Gate: Howard Gone- MUA Here to Stay!

Event date: 31 May 2008
Type:
Location: Brett Park, Five Dock
Time: 11am-4pm
Cost: Free
The Sydney Branch of the MUA invites all members and their families to celebrate the 10 year anniversay of the return to work of Patrick workers with a family carnival and picnic day.

It is hard to believe that 10 years has passed since the Howard Government, Patrick owner Chris Corrigan and others engaged in their criminal conspiracy against the MUA to shed the Australian waterfront of unionised labour.

On April 7 1998, hundreds of guards and dogs stormed the wharves under cover of darkness as Patrick boss Chris Corrigan sacked his entire workforce of 2000 men and women nationwide with the aid of balaclava wearing goons and savage attack dogs. The Australian industrial relations landscape would never be the same again. This vicious attack on wharfies was undertaken with the complete support of the then Howard Government.

What followed was a monstrous battle to stop this criminal injustice perpetrated solely because the 2000 sacked wharfies were members of a union. The reactionary attempts to eradicate waterfront unionism failed because the Australian people rejected such inappropriate tactics that were fundamentally at odds with the aspirations of the Australian people who treasure the concept of a "fair go".

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THE FREMANTLE PICKETS

The Patrick Lock-out, April 18th, 1998

And we were there, on Fremantle Harbour, in 1998;
A few at first in the dusk of that day as the hours ebbed
Away into advancing darkness; gathered at the gate to face
The threat of coming hostile force. We were one
Of the picket lines, with all hands on deck now
As we battened down for a stormy night

Near the wharves from which maritime workers',
The wharfies, had been driven by thugs with dogs -
The curs of Corrigan - and here outside high fences
We faced the wrecking of our rights, our working lives,
As all around the Australian coast our union, the MUA,
Would be fighting that same bitter battle tonight.

We were the Fremantle picket lines, the night watch
On the barricades of belief, tired out after
Long days and nights, but still there on guard
At the gates, shoulder to shoulder, and we were resolute.
All week we had heard that farmers were coming,
Truck on truck by the hundred to smash through

Our pickets, but we were a union united, we held the line.
We were steel fired in the furnace of solidarity -
Welded in the links of that living human chain -
Because we were shackled by belief to our principles

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By Carl Bronski - 9 May 2008, wsws.org

Toronto’s Mayor David Miller has referred to the city’s Executive Committee a motion that would designate the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) an essential service. Such a designation would invite action by the provincial government to strip transit workers of the legal right to strike or to so restrict job action as to make it a token gesture.

The call to restrict the right to strike, put forth by two Toronto city councillors, follows closely on the heels of a day-and-a-half walkout by 9,000 transit workers organized in Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).

That job action began on the night of Friday, April 25, after workers overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement recommended by a thin majority of the union’s executive committee. The strike was abruptly ended the following Sunday afternoon when Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty marshalled the unanimous support of the opposition Conservative and New Democratic parties to force the workers back into the subway and bus barns and impose binding arbitration in the contract dispute.

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Originally published on iww.org

Once again a step ahead of intermodal truckers across the US, Stockton truckers, led by the majority Sikh drivers, launched a strike over the issue of fuel prices on Monday, May 5, 2008.

While many truckers participated in various protest shutdowns on either April 1st or May 1st this year, the 300-400 Stockton truckers working out of the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railyards have shut down their industry until their demands have been met.

Rather than demand the fuel surcharges paid by shippers but often pocketed by companies rather than passed along to drivers, the Stockton truckers are asking for a dramatic increase in the rates paid in order to keep up with increases costs such as fuel.

On April 26, 2004 Stockton intermodal truckers, inspired by rumors circulating of an LA port trucker shutdown, were the first to join what became a strike of west cost port truckers on April 30, and by June had spread to most southern and eastern ports as well.

The issues were largely the same then with increasing fuel
costs coupled with rates that had not increased for sometimes over a decade. The 2004 strike was settled successfully after only six business days into the strike rail yard officials announced an embargo on all container shipments to California to prevent a major rail system backlog from occurring (See The Record, May 4 and May 7, 2004).

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By Reed Fujii - San Joaquin Record Staff Writer, May 06, 2008

For the second time in four years, hundreds of independent truck drivers went on strike Monday against companies that hire them to haul cargo containers out of railroad terminals near Stockton.

And again, as in 2004, the issue was the failure of freight rates to keep up with rapidly rising fuel prices.

Ajit Gill of Stockton, a truck owner-operator and a spokesman for strikers, said the truckers face fuel costs that have more than doubled since 2004, as well as higher costs for insurance, stiffer inspection fees and more. But freight rates have not kept pace.

"There is nothing raised," he said Monday by cell phone.

The drivers would prefer to keep working, if it was practical.

"Unfortunately, we have to stop," Gill said. "Nobody can afford $4.35 diesel."

The strike's immediate impact was uncertain.

Zoe Richmond, Sacramento spokeswoman for Union Pacific Railroad Co., said there was a "minor impact" on her company's giant cargo terminal near Lathrop.

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Disclaimer: The action described here was not organized by the IWW.

By Francine Brevetti - staff writer, inside bayarea.com, May 6, 2008

OAKLAND — About 80 striking truckers from Middle Harbor Road at the Port of Oakland were ticketed and dispersed Tuesday after some of them committed vandalism, police said.

Some drivers had damaged a truck's window while the driver was operating the rig, Sgt. Peter Lau said.

Nevertheless, the protesting truck drivers who own and operate their own rigs vowed to continue demonstrating at the port for the rest of the week. They say motor carrier firms have been underpaying them for diesel fuel.

"No Stopping Anytime" signs are posted along Middle Harbor Road. But on Tuesday the port's main artery was lined with protesters' automobiles and some truck cabs.

"Yesterday (Monday) was peaceful," Lau said. "There were agreements among the officers here that we would let them (the strikers) use their First Amendment rights. However, the port's traffic was not going to be obstructed and people were not being hurt."

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By Jim Crutchfield, IWW NYC GMB - Industrial Worker, May 2008

Members of the New York City IWW branch attended a rally on April 1 at a truck stop on the New Jersey Turnpike, where an estimated 300 drivers, mostly owner-operators, met to protest fuel price gouging and address the media. The rally was part of a nationwide work stoppage by truckers that reportedly shut down several major ports on the East and West Coasts and turned highways around Chicago into parking lots.

Drivers from as far away as Florida were present at the New Jersey gathering, along with many drivers’ family members and other supporters. Two Wobblies addressed the crowd and were warmly received. The union collected contact information from nearly 100 drivers, many of whom expressed great enthusiasm for continuing their agitation and solidifying their organization.

IWW members also helped pacify the New Jersey State Police, who had started the morning with a barrage of traffic tickets, but backed off and just watched the show after being reassured that the gathering would be peaceful and that drivers would obey parking and traffic regulations.

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Industrial Worker, May 2008

On April 1, troqueros from New Jersey rallied on the New Jersey turnpike. On April 3, Houston followed. Truck drivers across the country participated in scattered actions to protest rising diesel fuel prices.

The price of diesel across the United States has risen by 21 per cent since the end of December 2007, from $3.35 to $4.05 per gallon, according to the US Energy Information Administration. A month before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, the price of diesel was $1.71 per gallon.

Something is wrong when we have to choose between feeding our families or buying diesel, said truckers. The message was heard, but it was not loud enough, according to organizers, including members of the IWW, of a new round of protests on April 30-May 1. Truckers across the board had called for better organization and coordination In response, truckers at the three largest ports in the United States —Newark on the Atlantic, Houston on the Gulf of Mexico and Los Angeles on the Pacific— are planning to take coordinated action to shut down ports on the morning of April 30.

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By Steven T. Jones and Amanda Witherell - San Francisco Bay Guardian, May 7, 2008

Workers, students, immigrants, and antiwar activists came together in historic fashion on May Day in San Francisco, but it was hard to tell from the next day's mainstream media coverage, which adopted its usual cynical view of the growing movement to end the war in Iraq.

Sure, there were articles in newspapers from the San Francisco Chronicle to the New York Times about how the International Longshore and Warehouse Union shut down all 29 West Coast ports for the day, with far more than 10,000 workers defying both their employers and the national union leadership to skip work.

But each article missed the main point: this was the first time in American history that such a massive job action was called to protest a war.

"In this country, dock workers have never stopped work to stop a war," Jack Heyman, the ILWU executive board member and Oakland Port worker who spearheaded the effort, told the Guardian.

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" target="_blank">By Yvonne Martinez‚ May 05‚ 2008 - Originally Published at beyondchron.org

Say it ain’t so. The City of Oakland issues May Day threats of suspension to union workers.

City of Oakland SEIU Local 1021 union members have filed Unfair Labor Practice Charges against the City of Oakland citing a long list of labor abuses including threatened disciplinary action against union members for their participation at a May Day rally in front of Oakland City Hall.

While ships were docked up and down the California Coast in a day-long ILWU protest against the War in Iraq, City of Oakland union members as part of a labor coalition that includes the City’s Firefighters, SEIU Local 1021, SEIU Local 1877, IBEW, and IFTE rallied to commemorate May Day and to protest labor abuses by the City of Oakland.

500 members of the four locals and their supporters rallied at City Hall in a first ever May Day Unity rally as they face simultaneous contract expiration dates this June.

City of Oakland, SEIU 1021 union members formed a lunchtime convoy of City trucks and vehicles at the May Day rally in front of City Hall, to both honor May Day as part of a day long West Coast Port shut down and to demonstrate concern about contentious City of Oakland labor contract talks.

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By DAVID MACARARY - Counterpunch, May 2, 2008

On Thursday, May 1, the ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) staged a one-day (one shift, actually) walkout as a protest against the U.S. military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. The shutdown affected ports up and down the West Coast, from San Pedro, California, to Seattle, Washington.

Although the PMA (Pacific Maritime Association) had warned the ILWU leadership that an “unauthorized” strike such as this was illegal, and that any rank-and-file dockworker who participated could be punished with a fine, suspension or even termination, the one-shift shutdown went off as planned and was deemed a resounding success. Thousands of workers defied management and failed to show up for the morning shift, resulting in port traffic coming to a standstill.

Despite the threats, no one really expects the port authorities to take any disciplinary action against ILWU members. In fact, if any union member is even wrist-slapped, it will be genuine shock. There are two reasons for this.

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Their union says the action is to protest the war in Iraq, but port operators and shippers say it's an attempt to influence their contract.

By Louis Sahagun and Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers - May 2, 2008

Thousands of dockworkers at 29 West Coast ports took the day off Thursday, effectively shutting down operations at the busy complexes in what the union called a protest of the war in Iraq but employers worried might be a prelude to labor unrest.

The stand-down at ports including Los Angeles and Long Beach -- which combined handle 40% of the imported goods arriving in the United States each year -- idled ships and cranes, stranded thousands of big rigs and halted movement of about 10,000 containers during the eight-hour day shift.

The show of force by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which ended as workers reported for the Thursday night shift at Southern California's twin ports, came two months before its contract expires with the Pacific Maritime Assn., a group of cargo carriers, terminal operators and stevedore companies.

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Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the TWSC. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

Filed by Oren Liebermann - Wavy.com, April 3, 2008

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY.com) -- Chris Evans remembers the good ole' days of truck driving, not too long ago, when diesel prices were about two dollars a gallon.

"It was awesome. It was great to be a trucker then," remembers Evans.

But now, he says those days are gone, replaced by soaring gas prices and shrinking profits for independent truckers, who rely on driving more miles to make more money.

"I hold about 240 gallons, but I haven't filled up," Evans says. "I haven't topped off these tanks in three to four weeks now."

The U.S. Department of Energy says high worldwide demand for diesel has forced prices near the $4 per/gallon mark. Adding to the problem, a switch to low-sulfur diesel has slowed production for American refineries.

On Friday, many independent truckers - truckers like Derek Langley - will shutdown for a day to draw national attention to the problem.

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Disclaimer - The opinions of the author do not necessarily match those of the TWSC. The image pictured to the right did not appear in the original article, we have added it here to provide a visual perspective. This article is reposted in accordance to Fair Use guidelines.

By JEFFREY GOLD - Associated Press Writer, April 2, 2008

RIDGEFIELD, N.J. (AP) -- Tons of freight idled across the country Tuesday as independent truckers pulled their rigs off the road while others slowed to a crawl on major highways in a loosely organized protest of high fuel prices.

Using CB radios and trucking Web sites, some truckers called for a strike Tuesday to protest the high cost of diesel fuel, hoping the action might pressure President Bush to stabilize prices by using the nation's oil reserves.

"The gas prices are too high," said Lamont Newberne, a trucker from Wilmington, N.C., who along with 200 drivers protested at a New Jersey Turnpike service area. "We don't make enough money to pay our bills and take care of our family."

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To truckers and media:

Our members and organizers in the trucking industry have been hearing about the called for April 1, 2008 trucker shut down.

The IWW is not organizing or calling for this shutdown, but supports all truckers taking action to improve their lives and protest the skyrocketing fuel, low pay, unpaid waits and all the other conditions that grow worse by the day.

Truckers unite! Only through organizing a union across the transportation industry can we begin to change this.

The IWW is committed to building a democratic, fighting union in the trucking industry whether you are an independent contractor driver or company driver, intermodal, LTL or over-the-road. Please contact us if you and your co-workers need support or are interested in making trucking a job worth keeping.

Motor Transport Workers IU 530 contacts:

• Pat Tresca- Midwest (224) 381-4088
• Billy Randel- New York (646) 645-6284

Whereas, the San Francisco Labor Council has a longstanding position calling for an immediate end to the US war and occupation in Iraq; therefore be it

Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council supports the decision of the Longshore Caucus of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) to stop work for 8 hours on Thursday, May 1, 2008 -- International Workers Day -- at all West Coast ports, to demand "an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of US troops from the Middle East." The Council supports the decision of Branch 214 of the National Association of Letter Carriers to observe 2 minutes of silence in all carrier stations at 8:15 a.m. on May 1st, in solidarity with the ILWU action and to express their opposition to the war in Iraq; and be it further

Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council encourages other unions to follow ILWU's call for a 'No Peace-No Work Holiday' or other labor actions on May Day, to express their opposition to the US wars and occupations in the Middle East; and be it finally

Resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council send a letter of congratulations to ILWU President Bob McEllrath for his union's bold initiative to use the occasion of International Workers Day to stop work to stop the war.

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Dear Brother McEllrath

No Peace No Work ­ May Day Action

I have been informed by the sacked Liverpool Dockworkers of ILWU’S decision to stop work at all of Americas West Coast Ports on the 1st May in protest against the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On behalf of my Union can I send a message of thanks and support to the ILWU and all the Longshoremen and women, who will be participating in this historic and significant action.

Without a doubt the ILWU’S action is in the very best traditions of the Labour and Trade Union Movement; and should act as a clarion call to governments the world over that the time has come to end these divisive wars once and for all.

The 1st of May is International Workers’ Day when working class men and women remember, commemorate and celebrate the past industrial and political struggles of our forefathers and mothers.

The decision of the ILWU to use this May Day as an anti-war protest will go down in the annals of Workers’ History, and I congratulate you, your Union and all the members for making such a stand.

In Solidarity,
Len McCluskey
Assistant General Secretary

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March 13, 2008 - By The JOURNAL of COMMERCE ONLINE

The president of the Pacific Maritime Association on Thursday said West Coast waterfront employers intend to turn down a request by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to call an eight-hour stop-work meeting on the first work shift May 1 to protest the Iraq war.

"Contractually, they've gone down the right avenue, but we are not going to agree to it," said James McKenna, PMA president. "PMA will respond to the union shortly."

The ILWU locals are permitted to call one stop-work meeting each month to discuss union business. However, the stop-work meetings must be conducted during the second work shift, when cargo activities at most ports are lightest.

If the ILWU wishes to change the stop-work meeting time, the union must request permission. The ILWU has submitted its request in plenty of time to comply with the waterfront contract, McKenna said.

Nevertheless, employers do not want all West Coast ports to be shut down for eight hours during the busy day shift on May 1, he said.

ilwu.org

ILWU MayDay Site

The New York Metro Area local of the American Postal Workers Union will observe a "2-minute period of silence at 1:00 AM, 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM" during all three shifts on May 1st, 2008 - International Workers Day - to show their opposition to the Iraq war and occupation and Bush's threats to attack Iran and Syria.

The resolution, "in support of labor actions to stop the war," passed without opposition at the general membership meeting March 19th. NY Metro is the largest local in the APWU, representing many thousands of clerks and other postal workers in Manhattan, the Bronx and several large mail processing facilities in New Jersey.

The vote by NY Metro is "in solidarity with the actions of our brothers and sisters in the ILWU," which plans to shut down all West Coast ports for 8 hours on May 1st, and with San Francisco Branch 214 letter carriers, who voted to have a 2-minute period of silence (at 8:15 AM) on May Day in all carrier stations, in opposition to the war.

The resolution also urged NY Metro members in all postal facilities to "wear a button, ribbon, badge or some other symbol in protest of the war on May Day." On March 22, NY Metro leaders and members marched with other unionists in the "River to River Against the War" protest on the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war. They marched on 14th Street in both directions, from the East River to the Hudson, meeting up for a rally at Union Square with wounded veterans of the war and military families.

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Longshore Caucus calls for Iraq war protest at ports on May 1.

Nearly one hundred Longshore Caucus delegates voted on February 8 to support a resolution calling for an eight-hour "stop-work" meeting during the day-shift on Thursday, May 1 at ports in CA, OR and WA to protest the war by calling for the immediate, safe return of U.S. troops from Iraq.

“The Caucus has spoken on this important issue and I’ve notified the employers about our plans for 'stop work' meetings on May 1,” said ILWU International President Bob McEllrath.

Caucus delegates, including several military veterans, spoke passionately about the importance of supporting the troops by bringing them home safely and ending the War in Iraq. Concerns were also raised about the growing cost of the war that has threatened funding for domestic needs, including education and healthcare. Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard economist Linda J. Bilmes recently estimated that the true cost of the War in Iraq to American taxpayers will exceed 3 trillion dollars--a figure they describe as "conservative."

The union’s International Executive Board recently endorsed Barack Obama, citing his opposition to the War in Iraq as one of the key factors in the union's decision-making process.

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