Oakland, CA – The power of workers to bring production to a halt was on dramatic display April 4, when longshore workers of ILWU Local 10 shut down the ports of Oakland and San Francisco for 24 hours, in solidarity with the heroic struggles in Wisconsin.

The big container port of Oakland was deader than a doornail Monday at 6:00 a.m. I saw a long snake-line of trucks bearing shipping containers idled on the roadway. The shipping cranes were all “standing at attention” – i.e., not working any containers (These are same Port of Oakland cranes that gave George Lucas the idea for some of his “Star Wars” imagery).

The ILWU hiring hall was practically deserted at dispatch time for the night shift, leaving several hundred jobs unfilled. The dock workers stayed away, and no cargo was worked on any shift Monday in Oakland or San Francisco.

The rank-and-file-initiated shutdown was part of nationwide actions on April 4 to challenge the draconian budget cuts and union busting in Wisconsin and other states.

An “organized act of resistance” by rank-and-file dock workers

“This was a voluntary rank and file action – an organized act of resistance,” said Clarence Thomas, a dock worker and Local 10 executive board member.

“It is significant that the action by Local 10 was taken in solidarity with Wisconsin public sector workers who are facing the loss of collective bargaining,” Thomas said. He pointed out that April 4 is also the anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – who was killed in Memphis demanding collective bargaining for sanitation workers in that city.

“So we’ve come full circle,” he concluded. The Memphis public workers got their union, after a two-month strike. Now 40 years later their Wisconsin counterparts are threatened with losing theirs. But it is Wisconsin’s fierce resistance that is inspiring all of us today.”

It is not surprising that the 24-hour port work stoppage came out of International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 10, a racially diverse, predominantly African American local, and the home local of legendary labor leader Harry Bridges. Martin Luther King was named an honorary member of Local 10, six months before he was killed in 1968.

#OaklandCA #InternationalLongshoreWarehouseUnionILWU #DrMartinLutherKingJr #Wisconsin #PublicSectorUnions #April4 #InternationalLongshoreWarehouseUnionLocal10 #ILWU

April 4 is a day to stand up and be counted. We urge all readers of Fight Back! to join the nationwide protests that are set for April 4, the anniversary of the assassination of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Say no to the attacks on public employees and on the rights of working people.

As things stand, the April 4 protests, which are being promoted by unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO and others, look to be a massive mobilization of the labor movement and its allies. Hundreds of thousands will join rallies and marches to stand in solidarity with the workers of Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and other states that are on the front lines of the fight to resist union busting efforts.

The stakes are incredibly high. The steady decline of trade unions in United States has made public-sector worker unions a key pillar of the labor movement overall. The attacks by right-wing politicians on unions of public employees have the potential to place a half million workers or more outside the ranks of organized labor. If this is allowed to happen, it will be a serious setback for all working people.

The good news is many workers have decided that these attacks need to be combated. The heroic resistance shown by workers, students and members of the community in Wisconsin are an example to all of us. To this day, the attempts by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to strip public worker unions of their right to representation have been blocked. This is not because of politicians or judges; it is because working people took to the streets and changed the political landscape.

The rich and powerful are waging an offensive against working people. The big capitalists are taking advantage of the ongoing economic crisis to push working and oppressed people into deeper poverty. The only thing they care about is themselves and their money.

April 4 is a chance for all of us to say enough is enough. Dr. King’s legacy is a legacy of struggle. King went to Memphis, Tennessee in 1968 to stand with sanitation workers who were on strike to improve their lives. His life was ended by an assassin’s bullet. The response to his murder in African American communities across the country was immediate and clear – oppression and inequality must go.

We need to have that same will to fight and determination to win in our struggles today. We are facing an enemy that is well organized and obviously well funded. The wealthy will not give us a moment of peace. They want to push us down. We cannot allow this to continue.

On a final note, the editors of Fight Back! urge readers to take the ‘Pledge to resist FBI and Grand Jury repression’ out at the April 4 protests. Illinois U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald wants to put trade union, anti war and international solidarity activists in jail. This is an attack on everyone’s right to speak out against injustice.

Do the right thing on April 4. Join the protests. Stand up for the rights of working people!

#UnitedStates #Protest #unions #PublicSectorUnions #April4 #publicWorkers #martinLutherKingJr