Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997 07:44:58 +1000
From: sjwright-AT-vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au (Steve Wright)
Subject: (en) ++ Liverpool Dockers


Subject: (en) ++ Liverpool Dockers
From: Freedom Press <freedom-AT-tao.ca>
Reply-To: <a-infos-d-AT-tao.ca>
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 18:53:36 +0000


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FREEDOM PRESS INTERNATIONAL
---------------------------
84B, WHITECHAPEL HIGH STREET,
LONDON E1 7QX UK
----------------------------
sample edition of FREEDOM on request from London
---------------------------
Extracts from FREEDOM 21st June 1997

MONTREAL CONFERENCE
LIVERPOOL DOCKERS GO INTERNATIONAL

The agenda of last week's dockers' conference  in Montreal quite
rightly in the main was taken  up with the Liverpool struggle, with a
clear view of  all delegates in attendance that on-going
international activity would have to be put in place  as soon as
possible to ensure the Liverpool dockers  are reinstated.

What we
started in Liverpool 21 months ago, when we decided to go
international and undermine the economic base of the Mersey Docks &
Harbour Company, and what followed in the international conference in
Liverpool in February 1996 we are now on the verge of developing into
what could be the most important dockworkers' movement for all
dockworkers the world over, and especially for the situation in
Liverpool.

For once we are in a position to hit the dock company so
we don't want the union to cut across this with a shoddy deal to
sabotage the international movement. We don't want a shoddy compromise
which will not see Liverpool dockers reinstated into all areas of the
port.

It is the belief of the three delegates (Terry Teague, Jim
Nolan and Mike Carden) that there is now a real rank-and-file movement
in place which will challenge the policies of the ship-owners and the
port employers: privatisation, casualisation and deregulation.

Based
on what we saw and heard last week, it will be a movement prepared to
take industrial action to defend all dockworkers currently under
attack whether they be in Liverpool, Santos, Amsterdam or Australia.
All these dockworkers find themselves under industrial and political
attacks similar to the one faced by the Liverpool dockworkers 21
months ago. The strong view of the majority of delegates was that the
international dockworkers' movement is clearly a movement for the
future, and they want to make sure that the Liverpool dockworkers are
part of that future.

The view was expressed that if the Liverpool
dispute is lost then the whole international initiative will be lost.
However, the Liverpool delegates did not take this view - they said
that whatever happened to the Liverpool dispute, the international
movement was something new and would develop. The actual success of
the Montreal conference can only be determined when we see how
successful the actions decided have been.

Jimmy Nolan said that it
was his belief that we are on the verge of something big - not just
for the reinstatement of the Liverpool dockers, but for dockworkers
all over the world. This is the first time that we have seen a body of
dockers all over the world, both ITF (International Transport Workers'
Federation) and non-ITF, for a common goal. The actual organisation of
the conference was marvellous. This was due to the work of Michel
Murray and the longshoremen of Montreal. (There was simultaneous
translation, and the whole of the proceedings were recorded on
big-screen. There was a back-up team. Copies of the resolutions in
different languages almost as soon as they were carried, and they were
sent out on the e-mail within minutes.) We owe Michel Murray and the
longshoremen of Montreal a special debt of gratitude.

Almost the
entire conference was given over to the Liverpool dockers. The
attendance was 54 delegates from five continents, 17 countries and 27
ports. Old stalwarts from the first conference, like Ole Muller, Pat
Riley and Bjorn Borg, were there. They never flinched from the
decisions of that first conference in February 1996. Jim Donovan from
Australia was not able to be present because of a prior engagement,
but he sent a strong message. Apart from the Liverpool delegates -
shop stewards, the other delegations were leaders of big unions the
ILA and ILWU, Montreal (and they all had a clear mandate that they
could commit themselves to resolutions, especially in support of
Liverpool) - the French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese delegates
caucused to see how best they could affect the Liverpool trade in
Europe. The general secretary of the National Council of Portworkers
Unions of Japan was there (35 ports); Marvin Mfundisi, vice president
of the TGWU South Africa (in charge of dockworkers); Vladirnir
Vasiliev, president of the All Russian Dockworkers' Union representing
23 ports in Russia and the Baltic; from Spain was the general
secretary of the federation of all the dockers' unions, Julian
Garcia Gonzalez, representing 32 ports; for the first time the Dutch
dockworkers were represented from the powerful FNV union in Amsterdam.
The Dutch dockers are struggling against deregulation and
privatisation in their ports - the employers want to shed 200 jobs and
make 300 dockers casual.

The debate covered all aspects of dock work,
especially the problems of privatisation, casualisation and
deregulation, but Liverpool was the main issue and central to the
whole conference. On the second day the three delegates from Liverpool
were able to give a full oral presentation of the history and the
up-to-date situation, making the point also that it was not just from
the three that were present but all those who had taken part in the
movement to build this international initiative. They had now become
friends with many dockers all over the world. We especially spoke of
the power of the Ken Loach film The Flickering Flame.

Julian Garcia
Gonzalez spoke of the history of the international movement. He had
studied the way things were going in the world. There are five or six
major shipping consortiums and they dictate to governments what
policies they want to operate in the ports. He said that there was a
socialist government in Spain and, up to its election, it had strong
links with the dockers' unions and others, but it cannot decide its
own policy in the ports as that is determined by the shipping
consortiums. The Liverpool delegation explained that in the 21 months
there had been many highs and lows, including the death of the second
picket in the last week. The hardship fund is at its lowest level
ever, but it is the desire of all dockworkers and their families and
supporters to continue to fight for reinstatement and achieve a just
settlement.

The role of the ITF was discussed. They had refused to
attend the conference. They still consider the conference represented
a counter-organisation to the ITF itself. The debate was along the
lines that the ITF can say what they like but, even leaving the
Liverpool situation aside, they have done nothing for dockworkers. The
Flag of Conscience campaign for seafarers is good, but they have done
nothing similar for the dockers. If they had agreed to work with and
co-ordinate on behalf of the Liverpool dockworkers, then there would
not have been the need to set up the present international movement.


A small committee was elected to meet the ITF in Miami on 9-lOth
June. The delegation is Jim Nolan and Terry Teague from Liverpool,
Michel Murray from Montreal, Jim Donovan (or a representative from
New Zealand if he cannot go) from Oceania, Yoshi Kakamura from Japan,
Norman Parks from the US and Marvin Mfundisi from Africa.

It was
decided that the next conference will be in Liverpool, because the
delegates were strongly of the opinion that it will be a celebration
of our reinstatements and a signal to start the fight-back the world
over.

information from Hull Syndicalists


f25,000 TO THE LIVERPOOL DOCKERS

 The central organisation of Sweden's workers,  SAC, has decided to
 send 250,000 sv.crowns  (f25,000) to the fighting dockers in
 Liverpool.

The decision was made by the SAC's central committee
 when it became known that a number of families risk eviction from
 their homes. The proposal to send money was made by Botkyrka and
 Skarholmens local federations of the SAC.

 "This is a good
 initiative", says Sharokh Razavi from the Liverpool Dockers Support
 Committee. "I hope that more unions join up. The dockers need our
 support. The anti-union policy implemented in England is on its way
 here. A victory for the Liverpool dockers is a victory for all
 organised workers in Europe."

 The Liverpool dockers have previously
 received support from both the SAC syndicalists and Swedish harbour
 workers' union. "We shall inform the LO [socialdemocrat] of our
 decision", says Jan Berglund, the SAC's general secretary. "Hopefully
 the socialdemocratic LO will show their solidarity and support for
 their union brothers in England".

 The Liverpool dockers are
 organised in the TGWU, the British LO. "The attacks on workers and
 their organisations is becoming commonplace in Europe", says Kieran
 Casey, the SAC's international secretary. "In England we can now see
 the pattern since the start of the Liverpool conflict, Magnet factory
 workers, Hillingdon, and more. In Belgium the Renault move has openly
 flaunted present day legislation and in Sweden the Eriksson and
 SAAB-Aero move of profitable production has devastated communities.
 Behind the slogans of flexibility and competition is the face of raw
 capitalism devoid of any social responsibility. The uncontrolled
 globalisation of the economy and the moves toward a European monetary
 union are leading to nothing less than a capitalist dictatorship. It
 is in this perspective that support for the Liverpool dockers is
 necessary. They are on the front-line in the struggle between the
 haves and the have-nots, between those who make decisions which
 affect others' lives and those who have no say whatsoever."

 The
 Liverpool dockers' fighting spirit, solidarity and show of mutual aid
 is an inspiration to all workers in the struggle against injustice
 and the whims of the bosses. In all our meetings with our Liverpool
 comrades we are struck by their honesty and integrity. They have
 maintained their dignity and have won the respect of groups - and
 unified previously disparate groups - such as environmental
 activists, the unemployed and wage-earners in the fight against the
 barbarism of capitalism.

 The SAC are negotiating a campaign called
 'One Hour for Liverpool'. The goal is that each member should donate
 f5 in support. We hope to broaden the appeal to encompass all trade
 unions and political organisation. The SAC hereby appeals to all
 friends to raise the issue of the Liverpool conflict and to give
 moral support and financial aid to the dockers, to organise protests
 and blockades against the harbour company and those who use the
 harbour facilities and to protest against the British government and
 its institutions.

Contact the dockers at: Port Shop Stewards Committee, Transport House,
Islington, L3 8EQ, Liverpool, England.

Contact the SAC at:
SAC-Syndikalisterna, Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation, Box 6507
113 83, Stockholm, Sweden.

informaffon from Kieran Casey
International Secretary of the SAC






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