[olympiaworkers] Defend Occupy Oakland With The Muscle Of Organized Labor-Statement Of ILWU Members & Retirees

Oct 28th, 2011 Indybay.org

ILWU Members and Retirees Are calling for full labor support for
Occupy Oakland

DEFEND OCCUPY OAKLAND WITH THE MUSCLE OF ORGANIZED LABOR

Demonstrators in downtown Oakland protesting the bank-driven economic
crisis were brutally attacked by police from 18 Bay Area agencies on Tuesday
Oct. 25. Mayor Quan, who was supported by ILWU Local 10 in the recent
elections, ordered this bloody assault. Cops used potentially lethal
weapons to break up the occupation of Frank Ogawa (now renamed Oscar
Grant) Plaza just as they did in the port against anti-war protesters in
2003. That police attack was even criticized by the UN Human Rights
Commission and ended up costing Oakland over $2 million in civil suits.

Then-Local 10 longshoreman Billy Kepo'o was hit in the hand by a police
tear gas canister causing a bloody mess. Now, Iraqi war vet, Scott Olsen,
was hit in the head with a police projectile, causing a fracture and
putting him in critical condition in Highland Hospital. This is
exactly what killed one of the strikers in Seattle in the Big Strike of
1934. That history of police violence against strikers is why our Local 10
Constitution bans cops from membership in our union.

Last year, Local 10 shutdown all ports to protest the police killing of
young Oscar Grant. This year ILWU has been supporting Occupy Wall Street.
Just last Monday the San Francisco Labor Council declared the Occupy San
Francisco and Occupy Wall Street "sanctioned union strike lines" offering
the protesters an umbrella of union protection.

ILWU is under attack from PMA employers, not just here in the port of
Oakland but especially in Longview, Washington. Our jobs and the survival
of the ILWU as a fighting union are at stake. We heard the report of our
Longview Local 21 brothers at our union meeting last week and we pledged
our
solidarity, just as we did for other unions under attack, whether in
Charleston, South Carolina or Madison, Wisconsin.

At the same time there is an outrage at the bankers and the capitalist
crisis which has caused massive hardship on the working class. Occupy
Oakland protesters have called for a General Strike on November
2. Whether this actually means real strike action by workers depends in
large part on union participation. Local 10 has always been in the lead in
the labor movement and all eyes are on us. As a first step, in defending
our union and others against economic and political repression, we need to
mobilize our members to participate in the rally and occupation November 2
in Oscar Grant Plaza. Shut it down!

October 28, 2011

Anthony Leviege #9576, Ronnie Armour #9922, Troy Bell #9837, Tremaine
Waters #9202, Richard Washington #9402, Anthony Manning #9986, Odis Rucker
#9811, Robert Grissom #101284, Jack Heyman #8780 (ret.), Samantha Levens
(S.F. IBU), Robert Irminger (S.F. IBU), Howard Keylor #220447 (ret.),
Clarence Thomas #8718