National Shop Stewards Network
www.shopstewards.net
Tuesday 22 April 2008
London, England
Dear Bro Jack Heyman and other members of ILWU Local 10 -
On behalf of the officers of Britain's National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN)* we extend our congratulations to Local 10 for its bold and inspiring decision to mount industrial action on Thursday 1 May in opposition to the continuing wars and occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Efforts by US trade unionists to bring these two wars to a swift end are both welcome and urgently needed after the loss of so many hundreds of thousands of innocent lives in both those already war-ravaged countries. There have also been the terrible social and economic costs of maintaining these occupations, borne in no small measure by workers and poor people, especially in the United States, but also here in Britain.
Many activists in British unions are already aware of the tremendous solidarity displayed by your members during the lock-out of the Liverpool dockers in the mid-1990s. Others will also be aware of the action taken by Local 10 in the previous decade to oppose the apartheid regime in South Africa. Few workforces in the English-speaking world have such a proud tradition of solidarity and internationalism.
We are heartened to learn that other US workers, not only on the West Coast, but as far afield as New York, Vermont and even Greensboro, North Carolina are looking to mount protest actions on May Day in the wake of your call. Against the background of contract talks for the docks workforce, the news that the port employers appear primed to go to the courts to try and block your action is disturbing, but comes as no surprise as union activists here in Britain have had to confront similarly draconian anti-union laws for a quarter of century.
In the meantime, please let Local 10 members generally know that the NSSN is aware of your forthcoming action and will be doing its best to publicise it among our existing layer of activists and beyond. We will be encouraging solidarity messages from individual supporters and affiliated union branches, and will also attempt to offer practical support as and when required if the employers do go to the courts and obtain an injunction against the action on May Day.
Once more, congratulations and good luck over the course of the next 10 days and beyond.
Yours in solidarity
Bill Mullins, Joint Organiser, NSSN
* The NSSN emerged from an initiative by the RMT union in October 2006 and held its inaugural conference, attended by some 300 lay activists from a wide range of British trade unions, in July of last year. Since then the NSSN has been working to build networks across the regions and nations of Britain and to encourage solidarity with workers in disputes with their employers in both the public and private sectors. We are very much looking forward to having two ILWU members present at our second national conference due to take place in London on Saturday 28 June.