International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union
Local 10
400 North Point
San Francisco, CA 94133

Charles Condon
State Attorney General
February 4, 2000

Dear Sir:
Union longshore workers in the port of Charleston, many of them African-American, demonstrated against Winyah Stevedoring's  non-union operation during the week of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. These longshoremen were attempting to defend their jobs and living standard very much like the Memphis sanitation workers 30 years ago when Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Yet, their rights were suppressed by some 600 police summoned from around the state of South Carolina who systematically used concussion grenades, helicopters, tear gas, shotgun blasts and night sticks against the protestors.

Horrifying photographs in the news media and on the internet show police attacking picketing longshoremen. These images burn deeply in the hearts of those who cry out for justice.

Despite the fact that South Carolina is a so-called "right-to-work" state, the right to protest  presumably is still constitutionally protected under the U.S. Bill of Rights as well as federal labor law. 

Our union, Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, strongly condemns the abuse of state power in denying workers their rights.

We find it unconscionable that the charges against the eight longshoremen arrested for trespassing have been elevated to inciting to riot. Furthermore, you have issued an injunction against International Longshoremen's Association Local 1422 limiting picket rights.

In this global economy under the rubric of "free trade", capital eviscerates the fundamental rights of labor.  We can understand the justifiable anger of workers who see decent jobs being stolen from them by an unholy alliance of a local non-union stevedore company, a Norwegian shipowner and the State Ports Authority.

As the state government is complicit in this anti-union cabal, it is necessary for workers internationally to demonstrate solidarity with the oppressed Charleston, South Carolina longshoremen.

What hypocrisy for a government to proclaim freedom, yet deny it to its own people while simultaneously flying the battle flag of the Confederacy, the symbol of slavery! We demand you drop the charges against the arrested longshoremen and withdraw your injunction! Victory to the Charleston longshoremen!

Sincerely,
Lawrence Thibeaux
President
ILWU Local 10