Charleston Docker Pres To Speak In SF

DEFEND THE CHARLESTON FIVE!




Before the summer is out, five longshore workers may go on trial in South Carolina. Elijah Ford, Jr., Ricky Simmons, Peter Washington, Jason Edgerton and Kenneth Jefferson face five years on felony charges for picketing in defense of their jobs. They are the Charleston Five.



COME HEAR CHARLESTON ILA LOCAL 1422 PRESIDENT KEN RILEY GIVE AN UPDATE ON THE CASE OF THE CHARLESTON FIVE AND THE MOVEMENT TO FREE THEM:



SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2 P.M.-4 P.M.

ILWU LOCAL 10

HENRY SCHMIDT ROOM

400 NORTH POINT, SAN FRANCISCO

$5.00 DONATION REQUESTED

For more information, call 415-775-0533 ext. 117. For full background information on the Charleston Five, check the ILWU Web site: http://www.ilwu.org.





For defending their jobs, four members of overwhelmingly African American International Longshoremen’s Assn. Local 1422 and one white member of ILA Local 1771 face possible five-year prison sentences on felony charges. Local 1422 is a backbone of the Black community in Charleston, South Carolina--a source of stable, well-paid jobs and engine of organized political power.

      The state of South Carolina sicced 600 riot police with dogs, horses, armored vehicles and helicopters on Local 1422’s peaceful picket line Jan. 20, 2000--then launched a vengeful prosecution of the five men arrested in the altercation that followed. The company that was picketed is suing Locals 1422 and 1771 along with 29 union members for $1.5 million in alleged financial losses from the incident. Without any evidence presented against them, the Five have been under house arrest since their indictment 1-1/2 years ago. They are confined to their homes from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. unless at work or at a union meeting.

      Some 7,000 unionists and other activists rallied in the capital of South Carolina on June 9 to demand the charges against the Five be dropped. Come hear Local 1422 President Ken Riley report on the demonstration and what the movement needs to do now that they may go on trial as early as September.



Sponsored by the N. California Labor Committee in Defense of the Charleston Longshore Workers; ILWU Local 10 Executive Board; California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO; Black Radical Congress; San Francisco Labor Council, AFL-CIO; the Alameda County Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Contra Costa County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO; San Mateo County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Sacramento Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO



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