Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 09:11:26 +0100
From: Hugh Rodwell <m-14970-AT-mailbox.swipnet.se>
Subject: M-NEWS: Santos docks dispute update


I  wrote:

>Here's a report on what's been happening since the big conflict in the
>Santos docks >last spring.
>
>I can also report that some of my British comrades visited Santos in
>December and >were able to pass on a copy of Ken Loach's film of the
>Liverpool docks struggle with >a Portuguese soundtrack (nice Christmas
>present!). Since the British visitors were >very active in relation to the
>Liverpool dispute, there was a great deal of discussion >and concrete
>person-to-person international contacts were made. In the long run >this
>will benefit political and organizational developments too. Typically
>enough, >good contacts were established within Brazil as well, with the
>foreign visitors acting >as catalysts.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Hugh
>
>_________________________________
>
>A Santos docker speaks out
>
>Interview with Francisco Nogueira in "The Dispatcher"

etc.

I should have added that Nogueira, the vice-president of his union, was in
fact the main contact my comrades talked to in Santos.

For every appearance at something like the Western Hemisphere Workers
Conference and every newspaper interview there is the possibility of
interconnections such as these beneath the surface, born of real struggles
and real political initiatives.

Once these "invisible" contacts reach a certain degree of frequency and
intensity, they will cease to be informal and molecular and will very
swiftly take on organized and socially visible clout.

Cheers,

Hugh