7435 Michigan Ave., Detroit, Michigan 48210 www.labornotes.org   #267 June 2001

Workers Face Felony Riot Charges.
Rally Will Support the Charleston 5

Thousands of unionists and supporters from the South and beyond will rally in South Carolina's state capital on Saturday, June 9, demanding that the state attorney general Drop the Charges! against the Charleston 5.

The 5 are longshoremen charged with felony rioting after their union tried to picket a ship unloading with nonunion labor. The local, International Longshoremen's Association 1422, which is 99 percent African American, is known for being active in the community, the Democratic Party, and such struggles as the fight to remove the Confederate flag from the State Capitol.

Speakers at the rally will include Ken Riley, president of Local 1422, who has crisscrossed the country on his members' behalf; some of the Charleston 5 themselves; and representatives of fights for the living wage and against anti-union legislation in South Carolina.

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has asked all local central labor bodies to support the march and rally. Call your local CLC for information about buses or car pools.

March begins: 11 am, Memorial Park, Gadsden and Hampton Sts.
Rally: Noon, South Carolina State House, Gervais and Main Sts.

For information, call Campaign for Workers' Rights in South Carolina at 888/716-7362, or the S.C. AFL-CIO at 803/798-8300. The Campaign will have travel and hotel information. See also .

If you can't go, or even if you can, send a donation to the Campaign for Workers Rights, PO Box 21777, Charleston, SC 29413. Call South Carolina Attorney General Charles Condon at 803/734-3970 to demand he drop the charges. Get your local union to pass a resolution demanding that the felony charges be dropped.