7435 Michigan Ave., Detroit, Michigan 48210 www.labornotes.org   #277 April 2002

Charleston 5 Celebrate Victory

by Marsha Niemeijer and Carl Biers

Supporters from all over the U.S. traveled to South Carolina to celebrate the victory of the Charleston 5 dockworkers on March 1 and 2. Alongside the local dockworkers were members of the UAW, Teamsters, ILWU, FLOC, and many

During the victory celebration for the Charleston 5, Julian Garcia (right), leader of the Spanish dockers union, gave ILA Local 1422 President Ken Riley a framed copy of a letter that helped keep Charleston a union port. The 5 were charged with felonies following confrontations during which the Nordana shipping line loaded a ship with a non-union crew. When that ship reached Spain, Garcia handed the captain a letter stating that the ship had been loaded unprofessionally and posed an unacceptable risk to the local dockers. The letter said they would work this ship, but would refuse to work any further ships loaded unprofessionally. The letter was sufficient motivation for Nordana to work out a deal with Local 1422 to put union longshore workers back on its ships.

more. Dockworkers from Sweden, France, Canada, Greece, Spain, the U.K., and elsewhere were also present.

The site where police attacked picketing dockworkers in January 2000 was now filled with cheering crowds attesting to the power of local, national, and international solidarity. When three of the Charleston 5 spoke, the crowd erupted into a long standing ovation.

Guests included James Spinosa, president of the ILWU, the West Coast dockworkers union. Spinosa delivered a check for $167,000 to help with the legal defense costs of the 5. Local member Leonard Riley remembered organizing a chicken roast to raise funds for the 5 while awaiting financial support from their own union, the International Longshoremen's Association.

The International Dockworkers Council, formed in 2001, had its first international meeting in Charleston immediately following the celebration.

-Freda Coodin