GREENS DEMAND DISMISSAL OF CHARGES AGAINST THE CHARLESTON 5
THE ASSOCIATION OF STATE GREEN PARTIES

MEDIA ADVISORY
For immediate release:
Wednesday, June 13, 2001

GREENS DEMAND DISMISSAL OF CHARGES AGAINST THE "CHARLESTON 5"

Union-busting tactics, a military-style police assault, and trumped-up charges used to suppress African American dockworkers in South Carolina

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) endorsed a resolution in support of the "Charleston 5," dockworkers and members of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), who face spurious charges of "rioting" after the state of South Carolina ordered a police assault against a legitimate union protest in Charleston. ASGP issues the resolution, which is appended below, in response to a call to action by the ILA and the Black Radical Congress (BRC).

The Charleston 5 are members of the ILA Locals 1422, which is 99% African American, and 1771 who face charges of felony assault and imprisonment for up to five years, after the state of South Carolina unleashed a police assault on dockworkers picketing to oppose scab labor in Charleston.

Nordana Lines, a shipping company, announced on October 1, 1999 that it would convert to non-union labor on ships in Charleston, after 23 years of using ILA workers. The union responded with picket lines. The state sent about 600 riot-equipped police in armored vehicles, on horseback, and in helicopters and patrol boats, and commenced a violent assault on the picketers. Five workers now face charges of "inciting to riot" and are under house arrest.

According to Frances M. Beal of BRC, "In the case of these dockworkers, the State of South Carolina is going even further to rein in black political power. There is state legislation pending to inhibit the right of unions to collect dues from their members, and separate legislation to prohibit any union member from being appointed to any board, agency or commission in the state of South Carolina....

'The Attorney General is planning to run for governor next time around and he's trying to make a name for himself,' said South Carolina AFL-CIO President Donna Dewitt. 

'I think he plans to make himself a name at the expense of these five guys.'" ("Black Labor Rights on Trial in South Carolina," Black Radical Chronicles, April 23, 2001)

The police assault displayed military tactics, in which urban police forces were trained on order from President Clinton in the mid-90s.  The same tactics were used to suppress dissent in Seattle in 1999 at the WTO protests, in 2000 in Washington, DC at the World Bank/IMF protests, and in Philadelphia and Los Angeles during the Republican and Democratic Party conventions.

Nordana Lines later negotiated an agreement with ILA, but WSI, the company that hired the nonunion workers, has continued its lawsuit against the two union locals and their presidents.

According to BRC, "the police arrested eight longshore workers on charges of misdemeanor trespassing. At this point State Attorney General Charlie Condon rushed in, took the case away from local law enforcement officials, and raised the misdemeanor charges to felony rioting charges. 

At a preliminary hearing a judge dismissed the felony charges for lack of evidence, but Condon then went to the Grand Jury and sought and obtained indictments against five of the defendants, on the same charges that had just been dismissed."

BRC also documents how state officials used the assault against the dockworkers' union to suppress political participation by black working people, quoting Ken Riley, president of Local 1422: 

"These longshore jobs are the only jobs in South Carolina where a black can really move up from below poverty to a middle class standard of living in a short time if he comes out and applies himself.... 

Our problems began when we started getting involved in state politics."  The incident took place about the same time as 47,000 people rallied in demand that the Confederate flag be removed from the state capitol.

Mr. Riley himself had been nominated to the State Ports Authority, but the South Carolina Manufacturing Alliance and the state Chamber of Commerce pressured the governor into withdrawing his name. 

BRC notes that "Republican state legislators then introduced a bill -- dubbed the Kenneth Riley Bill -- prohibiting union members from serving on state boards and commissions.

Its proponents touted it as a way to reduce union influence in state politics -- in a state where only 3.8 percent of the workers are in unions. The bill passed the House, but was killed in the state Senate."

STATEMENT OF SUPPORT

"The Association of State Green Parties supports the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA), AFL-CIO, and the Black Radical Congress (BRC) in demanding dismissal of charges leveled against the Charleston 5, dockworkers who face felony charges for "rioting" in the wake of a military-style police assault ordered by the state of South Carolina to break up a union protest against union-busting and the use of scab labor in the Charleston shipping industry. 

"We demand that the suit brought by Winyah Stevedoring Inc. (WSI), the company that hired the nonunion workers, against the two union locals and their presidents be dropped or dismissed. 

"We demand that the state of South Carolina not support plans by WSI, Nordana, or any other company to break the power of the ILA or any other union, and that it cease using police power to suppress union protest.

"We support the right of workers to organize and bargain with employers, to protest peacefully against unfair practices, full rights to political participation, and the right to a decent standard of living for African Americans, for other people of color, and for all working people and poor people in South Carolina and throughout the U.S.

"We endorse the announced march on Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, on June 9 to demand that the state drop the criminal charges against the Charleston 5 and that WSI drop the civil lawsuit against both locals and their members, and we endorse the call by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union for a day of solidarity with the Charleston 5."