Charleston Longshore Workers' Tour Takes Bay Area By Storm,
$13,640 Raised for the Dockworkers' Defense!  
International Day of Solidarity Actions Pledged in World's Ports!

A delegation of Charleston longshoremen including ILA Local 1422 President Kenneth Riley, Vice President Robert Ford and two defendants in the case known as the Charleston 5, Peter Washington and Elijah Ford, made a whirlwind tour of the Bay Area February 21- February 25.  The tour was sponsored by the Labor Committee in Defense of the Charleston Longshore Workers.

The purpose of their Northern California visit was to expose the legal onslaught against them and their union by nonunion employer W.S.I. and the South Carolina Attorney General and to win the support of trade unionists, blacks and those concerned with civil liberties. The Charleston 5, if convicted, face up to five years in jail for exercising their right to picket against a scab stevedore operation.

By the time they headed back home five days later, they'd won the hearts of Bay Area trade unionists and helped to raise over $13,640 for their legal defense, $7350 sent directly from unions to Charleston, with promises of more to come.

Greeted at the San Francisco airport on Wednesday February 21 by Trent "Buster" Willis (ILWU Local 10), Jack Heyman (ILWU Local 10), Eddie Gutierrez (ILWU Local 34) and Robert Irminger (IBU), all members of the defense committee, the Charleston longshoremen wasted no time in reaching labor's ear.

No sooner had they disembarked from their airplane than they headed for a mass picket line of some 400 United Air Lines mechanics. Local TV crews filmed the labor protest that was addressed by Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California AFL-CIO, Art Pulaski, and other labor officials.

Riley was introduced, spoke from the platform and received resounding applause. No sooner had he finished speaking than Fox TV interviewed him by cell phone.

From here it was off to the Soul Beat TV studio in Oakland where the four Charleston longshoremen and Trent Willis, secretary-treasurer of the defense committee,  were interviewed on the evening news program which reaches some 400,000 viewers, mostly African-American.

After this first day's busy schedule they were treated to fried catfish and seafood at "Sweet Jimmie's", a restaurant/nightclub in downtown Oakland owned by a retired Local 10 member and a favorite hangout of many longshoremen who made the Charleston brothers feel  right at home.

The following day they got a tour of the port of Oakland by Local 10 President Henry Graham and Business Agent Kevin Gibbons. With a bit of friendly jousting the Charleston brothers claimed their port was the fourth largest in the U.S., while Oakland longshore workers contended that their port was number four.

On a more serious note, President Graham took them on a hospital visit to former Local 10 President Lawrence Thibeaux, who had undergone a heart bypass operation.

Thibeaux had flown to Charleston last year in the heat of the struggle to participate in the picket at the Columbus Street terminal and bring solidarity greetings from Northern California ILWU locals.

Thursday night Riley spoke at La Peña, a cultural center established in Berkeley in the '70's by leftist political refugees of Chilean dictator Pinochet's bloody terror. 

It was a packed house, mostly of longshore workers, yet the attention paid Riley's speech was so intense you could hear a pin drop. The following evening at Local 10, Willis chaired and the same respectful focus was given.

Both evenings' events were co-sponsored by the Black Radical Congress, whose speakers included black journalist Fran Beal and Karega Hart, an organizer of S.E.I.U. Local 790.

That Friday morning the Charleston longshoremen went to the Local 10 hiring hall where Riley briefly addressed the longshore workers before the dispatch.  Then it was off to a Labor Breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Hotel sponsored by the ILWU, the California AFL-CIO and the San Francisco Labor Council.

The event featuring Ken Riley as guest speaker was chaired by Jack Heyman and was attended by officials and members of dozens of Bay Area unions.

Speakers included Jim Spinosa, International President of the ILWU, Art Pulaski of the California AFL-CIO, Walter Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer of the S.F. Labor Council. Eight unions present pledged donations to the defense campaign.

 In each of his speeches Riley meticulously, articulately and passionately explained the chronology of events leading up to the attack by 600 riot police  on Local 1422's picket line at the Charleston terminal. 

It followed the day after the predominantly African-America union was in the forefront of a march in Columbia against the flying of the Confederate flag at the state capitol.

He poignantly exposed the political vendetta against his local by the ambitious Republican State Attorney General Condon who will be running for governor of South Carolina next year.

And he told of the disillusionment he experienced when Democratic Governor Hughes, under pressure from big business, asked Riley to refuse his nomination for appointment to the State Port Authority. Anti-labor legislation ensued in the wake of this retreat.

Friday afternoon the Charleston longshoremen joined the picket at Castagnola's Restaurant on Fishermen's Wharf called by Local 2, the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union, who were protesting the sale of the restaurant to a nonunion outfit. 

Several of those union members volunteered their services serving food and drinks at the fundraiser benefit party the following evening in the Local 10 hiring hall.

Some 200 celebrants partied the night away to the music of master DJ Haywood Richmond, a longshore mechanic when he's not spinning discs. And Local 10 longshore women didn't need much coaxing to dance with our Charleston brothers!

Finally, Riley and his members have been thankful for the groundswell of support expressed in the financial contributions from around the country and motions for solidarity actions.

The only weak link in the defense campaign so far has been the silence and inaction from John Bowers, the ILA's International President. All indications are that that is about to change.

As the campaign gains momentum, ILA locals are beginning to come to the defense of Local 1422 with support rallies, financial donations for legal expenses and pledges of solidarity.

Riley and the Charleston brothers have been heartened by the growing support on the West Coast for an international day of solidarity actions on the first day of the trial (yet to be announced).

Already the International Dockworkers' Council conference held last month in Barcelona, Spain is on board to flex labor's muscle in ports around the world in protest with  solidarity actions.

The spirited defense campaign, begun in Northern California, will continue until the scab stevedore outfit W.S.I. withdraws its $1.5 million union-busting suit against ILA Locals 1422 and 1771 and the state of South Carolina drops its criminal charges against the Charleston 5.