Subject: M-G: Fw: The Saga of the Neptune Jade
From: iw-AT-parsons.iww.org
Date: 02 Dec 1997 20:36:09




Forwarded by Liam R.Flynn <trinity-AT-hot-shot.com>
---------------- Original message follows ----------------
 From: iw-AT-parsons.iww.org

 Date: 02 Dec 1997 20:36:09
 Subject: The Saga of the Neptune Jade
--

=======================================================Stop reading the Boss Press! Read the INDUSTRIAL WORKER.
=======================================================Monthly newspaper of the Industrial Workers of the World
=======================================================
Online at: http://parsons.iww.org/~iw

>From the December, 1997 issue of the INDUSTRIAL WORKER:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
URL: http://parsons.iww.org/~iw/dec1997/stories/neptune.html

The Saga of the "Neptune Jade"

Rank & file coalition turns away scab cargo with Direct Action

Looking back, it is most ironic that I had just sent an e-mail message to
another Wobbly requesting that he keep us updated about direct actions in
solidarity with the Liverpool Dockers. Less than a day later, the Berkeley
IWW received a call for help in manning solidarity pickets Sunday, Sept.
28, at 5 p.m. in Oakland, California. The picket was called by the San
Francisco Bay Area branch of the International Committee for Victory to the
Liverpool Dockers, a united-front group of unionists and social and
community activist. Their plan was to picket the "Neptune Jade," a ship
carrying containers loaded by scab workers in Thamesport, England. The
occasion? The date marked the second anniversary of the struggle of the
Liverpool Dockers. Our hope was that this action would bolster them as much
as they have inspired us.

But either luck was against us or the bosses got wind of our plans, because
we soon found out that the "Neptune Jade" would be arriving early in the
morning Sunday. A phone call to IBU member Robert Irminger near midnight
Saturday urged that the pickets go forward next morning.

Sure enough, next morning about two dozen pickets arrived at Berth 23 in
Oakland. Many of these pickets were Wobs. Our spirited pickets were
augmented in the port by the presence of a certain tugboat, also operated
by resourceful Wobblies. Two times that day, a coalition of unionists -
>from the Inland Boatmen's Union, Sailors Union of the Pacific, Operating
Engineers Local 3, IBEW, HERE Local 2850, UFCW Local 101, ILWU Local 6,
Sign and Display Workers Local 510, the Peace & Freedom Party, the Labor
Party, the Committees of Correspondence, COPWATCH, the International
Bolshevik Tendency, the Laney College Labor Studies Club, the Berkeley and
San Francisco IWW and others - convinced arbitrator Jerry Sutliff that a
hazard existed to the safety of workers from ILWU Locals 10 and 34. Both
times longshoremen refused to cross the picket line. No cargo was unloaded.

Monday morning, the pickets returned. The company went to the state court
to get a Temporary Restraining Order against mass picketing at the docks.
If successful we would have only been legally entitled to a small,
ineffective picket and the scab cargo would have been unloaded. Due to the
skill of committee attorney Trish McCormick, the judge refused to issue a
TRO. Our pickets turned away the morning shift. Meanwhile, an observant
Fellow Worker at sea kept us informed about the scene from his perspective.
He informed us that the "Neptune Jade" was to set sail for 1 p.m. that
afternoon. His final words read, "Keep the ship there till I get in from
sea so I can get a piece of it! Roar Kitty, Roar!"

But the ship didn't leave. She was still docked at Berth 23 Monday
afternoon, and the pickets were still holding the fort at Maritime and Pier
Streets in west Oakland when I arrived that evening. Once again, Wobbly
presence on the picket line was very strong. In the middle of Maritime, a
line of container trucks, at least ten long, was backed up. The Teamsters
were honoring the picket line; so were the non-unionized truckers. No cargo
was unloaded, and our resolve held into the night. The latest news was that
the "Neptune Jade" had been ordered to leave port at midnight that night,
unloaded or not. Once again, the rank & file workers of ILWU Locals 10 and
34 refused to cross the picket line. Four shifts had come and gone and not
a single container had been unloaded.

As we picketed, Irminger informed us of the situation in Great Britain:
Kent police had entered the Port of Sheerness seeking to evict Liverpool
dockers and their supporters who had occupied cranes as a vessel was due to
arrive. Outside the gate, 70 dockers and several hundred supporters were
picketing in the face of a massive police presence including special
tactical squads.

TGWU auto transport drivers employed by Axial were refusing to bring car
imports out through the picket line, and had left the port in a fleet of
transporters empty handed. Drivers from a second firm, Walons, had refused
to enter the port.

Sheerness had been targeted on the second anniversary of the Liverpool
lockout because the port is 100 percent owned by Mersey Docks and Harbour
Company. The deputy manager of the fruit terminal acknowledged that actions
were being taken in South Africa against exports to Sheerness, which he
found "very disturbing."

Meanwhile, 20 members of Reclaim the Streets (a group of radical
environmentalists including various Earth First! groups) occupied the roof
of the Department of Trade and Industry in London in solidarity with the
dockers, while 50 others entered the building. With two helicopters
circling overhead and a massive police presence on the ground, all traffic
was blocked off.

Back in Oakland we prepared to celebrate our victory. Champagne corks
popped as the ship sailed away. But despite our jubilation, another contact
at sea gave us a reality check late that night. The "Neptune Jade" had not
sailed. Rather, she shifted to anchorage in the San Francisco Bay to clear
the berth for another ship, the "Chesapeake Bay." The Jade would return to
Berth 23 Tuesday afternoon. We would have to stand our ground once again.

Early in the morning pickets arrived, and once again, the "Neptune Jade"
was held at bay for an entire day. That evening, the pickets were joined by
former California Governor-turned-"We the People"-radio host Jerry Brown.
The employers tried to serve us with a TRO, but no one acknowledged them.
Wild-eyed process servers proceeded to litter the street with papers. The
pickets continued on until 9 p.m. when the arbitrator ruled yet again that
we represented a "health and safety risk" to rank & file ILWU longshoremen
and marine clerks. Six shifts had come and gone. No cargo had yet been
unloaded. ILWU estimates suggest that the employers lost close to $3
million in lost production time and legal fees.

The ship finally sailed away, but this time we took no chances. Pickets
maintained a silent vigil all night in four-hour shifts. A retired
Longshoreman continually contacted Marine Transport to track the "Neptune
Jade," in case she returned at 2 a.m. (when the employers could call the
ILWU Local 10 hiring hall to dispatch a gang to unload her). Word was that
this time she was now anchored four miles north of the SF sea buoy, well
outside the San Francisco Bay. This is a transient anchorage, usually used
by tankers cleaning tanks, ships with captains too cheap to pay for
launches for the crew, or vessels awaiting berths. An e-mail message from a
MTWIU 510 Fellow Worker confirmed this and suggested that another ship, the
"California Pegasus" was due in to Oakland Berth 23 at 12:30 p.m.,
Wednesday, and due to sail around Midnight. Earlier that day,
representatives of the ship owners swore under penalty of perjury in court
that the "Neptune Jade" wasn't coming back to California.

This news was confirmed next day. The "Neptune Jade" would sail to either
Vancouver, BC, or Yokahama, Japan. Pickets were present at Berth 23 all
that day just in case. By that afternoon, it was clear that the Jade would
not return to Oakland anytime soon. The Liverpool Dockers Victory Committee
- now expanded to include all the groups who had contributed to the
victorious action - had made history for the labor movement and the
Liverpool dockers.

Epilogue: On October 4th we received word that the members of ILWU Local
500 in Vancouver had refused to cross a picket line set up by approximately
20 members of the Liverpool Dockers Solidarity Network. The Vancouver
pickets were alerted the day before that the "Neptune Jade," which had been
unable to unload its cargo in Oakland, was headed for Vancouver and would
be docking in that port at about 8 a.m. The shipping company had hoped to
unload its scab cargo in Vancouver and have it shipped over the road to the
San Francisco area.

Confronted with yet another militant picket line and the refusal of the
Canadian longshore workers to cross and break the solidarity that had been
forged in Oakland, the company apparently decided to cut its losses,
ordering the "Neptune Jade" to set sail immediately for Yokahama, Japan,
after only five hours of picketing.

But, when the "Neptune Jade" reached Japan, she had yet another nasty
surprise waiting for her! The All-Japan Dockworkers' Union refused to
handle containers loaded at Thamesport.

Apparently, the seven scab containers loaded in Thamesport contain ...
fertilizer.

Although we won this battle, the war is not over yet. Many of the
participants in the Oakland picket are facing major legal hassles. A
lawsuit has been filed alleging an extortionate conspiracy on the part of
the pickets, and asking the court to award unspecified monetary damages (up
to, or possibly exceeding, $3 million). We whipped their ass on the streets
and we'll probably whip their ass in the courts.

What we have now on our hands is a free speech fight reminiscent of the
historical IWW struggles immediately after their strike victories during
the first third of this century. It seems likely that the employers don't
have much of a case, due to a small factor known as the First Amendment.
Our picket at no time prevented trucks from entering or leaving the
facility; at no time did pickets touch any of the employers' goons; and at
no time did any pickets touch any of the cargo. Meanwhile, the company has
charged one of our picket captains, FW Irminger, with contempt of court.

Fellow Workers, you can help us withstand these legal challenges and help
turn the tide in this ongoing battle to reinstate the 500 sacked Liverpool
Dockers. Form and mobilize a General Defense Committee in your branch or
local. Let us know when you're ready, and we'll send you literature to
distribute to other unions and community groups.

The Berkeley IWW also has MTWIU 510 assessment stamps for $5 each; all
proceeds currently go to fund this ongoing struggle. Send your voluntary
contributions to the "Liverpool Solidarity Project," c/o Berkeley IWW, 2022
Blake Street, Berkeley CA 94704. Also, your shop, branch or local can
officially endorse the campaign to reinstate the Liverpool Dockers. Get in
touch with us in the East Bay, and we'll forward to information to you as
it becomes available.

Victory to the Liverpool Dockers!

-- By the Berkeley IWW and Fellow Workers; edited by FW X344543


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