Transport Workers Solidarity Committee

With Friends like the ATU Tops, Who Needs Enemies?
UNION PROPOSAL STEALS THOUSANDS FROM EACH WORKER
TRUSTS CAPITALISM WITH OUR FUTURE
On Tuesday June 29th @12:30pm in San Francisco, the ATU Leadership - new Int’l President Ron Heitzman, FST Oscar Owens, and Local 192 President Claudia Hudson – all confidently proclaimed that the union would not make concessions to transit management. Heitzman said that SF Mayor “Newsom has his head up his ass” for demanding concessions from Muni drivers who twice rejected them. He was tired of bosses “trying to balance their budgets on the backs of the workers” and said “we aren’t giving up shit.” President Hudson reiterated that “we have nothing to give.”
Less than 9 hours later they e-mailed a contract proposal that saved nearly $10.5 MILLION in the first year to AC Transit. ATU claimed it was only $9M but forgot to add in the impact of a wage freeze. AC routinely budgets for a 3% annual wage increase @ $1.1 Million for every 1% increase. Right now the annual inflation rate since June 2009(CPI-W) is 1.4%. Using that figure, a wage freeze saves AC another $2.86 Million and cheats each $50,000 worker $700/yr. Remember, ATU 192 is already $3.85 per hour under the average of Bay Area Transit bus drivers. (See box for details).We’ve lost at least $4000 per member – not counting attendance bonuses and opt-out. Lastly, the cut to AC’s contribution to the Retiree Medical Trust takes away the chance of increasing the benefits to cover the spouse of the employee. Most other ATU and TWU 250A Locals have some retiree coverage for the spouse.

Dockworkers, Worldwide, Respond to Israel's Flotilla Massacre and Gaza Siege
http://www.counterpunch.org/dropkin07132010.html
July 13, 2010

Blockade!

Dockworkers, Worldwide, Respond to Israel's Flotilla Massacre and Gaza Siege

By GREG DROPKIN

Three weeks after the massacre on the Freedom Flotilla, ILWU dockworkers in the San Francisco Bay area delayed an Israeli Zim Lines ship for 24 hours, the Swedish Dockworkers Union began a week-long blockade of Israeli ships and containers, dockers in the Port of Cochin, India, refused to handle Israeli cargo, and the Turkish dockworkers union Liman-Is announced their members would refuse to service any Israeli shipping. In South Africa, Durban dockers had already boycotted a Zim Lines ship in response to the invasion of Gaza last year. On the 5th Anniversary of the United Palestinian Call for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions, Israel faces the prospect of targetted industrial action to implement boycotts. How did it happen, what does it mean, and how can the solidarity movement respond to the new opening?

Oakland

At 5am on Sunday 20th June, 800 trade unionists and Palestine solidarity activists from the San Francisco Bay Area marched to the SSA (Stevedoring Services of America) terminal at Berths 57-58 in the Port of Oakland, where the “Zim Shenzhen” was due. Zim Lines is the main Israeli shipping company, with services connecting Israel to the world. The ship sailed from Haifa, calling at Piraeus, Livorno, Genoa, Tarragona, Halifax, New York, Savannah, Kingston, Panama Canal, Los Angeles before reaching Oakland.

Cuban Workers Central CTC Backs Labor Boycott Of Israeli Ship In Oakland California On June 20, 2010

Havana, June 18, 2010

To: Tim Paulson, Executive Director, San Francisco Labor Council

Robert McEllrath, President
International Longshore and Warehouse Union

William Harvey, President
Alameda Labor Council

The Cuban workers support the just protest of the workers and community of the San Francisco Bay Area that will take place on June 20 against the cruel and inhumane blockade which the Israeli government maintains in the Gaza Strip, depriving thousands of women, children and men of the most basic rights, especially the right to life.

Our people have lived for more than 50 years under an unjust and abominable blockade by the United States government. Therefore, we understand very well how the Palestinian people feel and we will always be in solidarity with their just cause. Today, we send you our most sincere support.

Long Live the Solidarity of the Working Class!
End the Blockade of Gaza!
Respect and Justice for the Palestinian People!

Carmen Godínez
America Coordinator
Department of International Relations
Cuban Workers Central (CTC)

Letter From UK Palestine Solidarity Committee To ILWU President McEllrath

ILWU President Bob McEllrath
robert.mcellrath@ilwu.org

17 June 2010

Dear Pres. McEllrath,

I write to congratulate ILWU Local 10 and its membership for their
response to the Israeli act of piracy on the high seas and murderous
attack on the Freedom Flotilla, immediately condemned by both the
International Transportworkers Federation [1] and the International
Dockworkers Council [2].

The Flotilla aimed to break the ongoing siege of Gaza, still under Israeli
military control following the invasion of Dec 2008 – Jan 2009 which
killed 1400 Palestinians, mainly civilians including 300 children. The
International Committee of the Red Cross condemns the siege as "collective
punishment imposed in clear violation of Israel's obligations under
international humanitarian law", and states "The only sustainable solution
is to lift the closure" [3].

In Feb 2009 the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union,
affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and to
the ITF, refused to handle the Zim Lines ship "Johanna Russ", which had
sailed from Haifa at the height of the Israeli bombardment.

ITF Votes For Stronger Action In Support Of Palestinian Workers And Against Blockade Of Gaza

http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/4608/region/1/section/0/order/1
ITF vote for Gaza action

15 June 2010

ITF House London
The ITF’s Executive Board has voted for even stronger action in support of Palestinian workers and against the blockade of Gaza.

The resolution (available below) was moved by Mukthar Hili, ITF Executive Board Member from Tunisia. It was passed by the executive board - made up of 40 elected representatives from ITF-affiliated unions, and the general secretary - at a meeting in London last week.

The motion thanked the ITF for its quick response to the assault on the Gaza-bound flotilla and asked it to:

Maintain support to the Palestinian transport workers in Gaza and the West Bank
Go beyond letters of protest and lobby with the full weight of the organisation against the occupation and lead a campaign to remove the blockade of Gaza
Ensure that a resolution is submitted to the ITF Congress dealing with these issue
Following the Executive Board decision Israel’s Histadrut trade union centre adopted a new statement that describes the blockade of Gaza as “unsustainable, from the economic, political and humanitarian perspective” and that it “therefore supports the lifting of the restrictions in the shortest possible time frame, in conditions of real movement to achieving the two-state solution. This can only be achieved on the basis of guarantees for Israel’s security including the inspection of cargoes.”

Swedish Dockworkers Change Dates Of Blockade Of Cargo To And From Israel

Press release from THE SWEDISH DOCKWORKERS UNION

Stockholm 2010-06-11

Change of dates for the blockade on Israeli ships and cargo to and from Israel

The Swedish Dockworkers Union gave notice on June 3, 2010 that their blockade of Israeli ships and cargo to and from Israel will take place from 15th-24th June. The measure was based on the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla (of which the Swedish Ship to Gaza was a member), an action that was contrary to public international law.

The Swedish Dockworkers Union had previously decided to voice their support for the humanitarian project Ship to Gaza. An additional component of the blockade was a demand that the state of Israel lifts its illegal blockade of Gaza. The employers association Ports of Sweden responded to this notice by threatening to take action against union members taking part in the blockade without stating any objections to the notice itself or the action as such.

According to Ports of Sweden, participation in the blockade would violate the rules of obligation in individual employees’ contracts and financial compensation would be sought for any damage caused. The Swedish Dockworkers Union believes that a union notice protects individual members from such retaliation and that such action by the employer instead constitutes a violation of freedom of association. Furthermore, the approach of Ports of Sweden, contrary to their claim to be making an assessment purely based on labour laws and free of political values, constitutes in our opinion an extended statement of political position, at least in its consequences.

Support World Labor Boycott Action Of Israel
Statement From The Transport Workers Solidarity Committee TWSC
6/5/2010

The pirate attack on the Peace Flotilla in international waters and the murder of more than ten people on the Turkish flagged ship Mavi Marmara is another escalation by the Israeli regime to continue their illegal and brutal encirclement of Gaza and the 1.4 million people and the building of the Zionists' apartheid wall in the West Bank.
The world labor movement including the International Dockworkers Council (IDC), International Transport Workers Federation(ITF), International Trade Union Confederation(ITUC), South African Municipal Workers' Union(SAMUW), South African National Union Of Mineworkers(NUM), Canadian Union of Public Employees(CUPE), COSATU, British Trade Union Congress(TUC) have all protested these criminal attacks by the Israeli government.
The British University and College Union(UCU) has also broken ties with the Histadrut Trade Union Of Israel and Brighton University lecturer Tom Hickey, said that the Histadrut had supported “the Israeli assault on civilians in Gaza” in January 2009, and “did not deserve the name of a trade union organization.”

International Dockworkers Council - IDC condemns the Israeli assault of the Freedom Flotilla
http://www.idcdockworkers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=98&Itemid=1
IDC condemns the Israeli assault of the Freedom Flotilla
Source: IDC Statement

The International Dockworkers Council (IDC) condemns the unjustified Israeli military assault to the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara heading for Gaza as a part of the Freedom Flotilla. The assault has caused more than ten deaths and many other injured people.

The Freedom Flotilla to Gaza was made out of eight ships carrying tones of humanitarian aid to Gaza and it had the support of many international organisations, included a wide network of port workers worldwide. Civilians travelling at the ships were activists, politicians and journalists from more than 60 countries and their aim was purely humanitarian. The Gaza strip has been suffering the consequences of the Israeli blockade from the last five years. The blockade has been qualified by the United Nations as illegal and it has left the population in Gaza under very dramatic life conditions by blocking the entry of food, medicines and hospital material amongst many others.

The Teamsters, a trade union like no other-In its dispute with BA, Unite has consulted the infamous US transport workers' outfit. Talk about playing with the big boys

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-teamsters-a-trade-union-like-no-other-1924647.html
The Teamsters, a trade union like no other

In its dispute with BA, Unite has consulted the infamous US transport workers' outfit. Talk about playing with the big boys

By Rupert Cornwell

Sunday, 21 March 2010S

If Unite wanted a high-profile foreign ally in its battle with British Airways, it could have done no better than the Teamsters. America's largest transport union may no longer be as famous as when Jimmy Hoffa was at its helm half a century ago. But in American organised labour, it is still a force to be reckoned with, boasting 1.4 million members and a name that is the stuff of myth.

From its foundation in 1903 – the title relates to the teams of horses that once provided the muscle for the movement of goods in America – the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has played a huge part in union history in the US. Its power lay, then as now, in its ability to paralyse commercial transport; as one of its chieftains once put it, to "jam the gears of American business".