The event took place in conjunction with a national meeting of socialist workers active in the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).

Maurice Williams, a meatpacker in Chicago, opened the forum by reading a message by Keith Griep, a member of UFCW Local 538 and a former striker against Tyson Foods in Jefferson, Wisconsin.

In response to company demands to cut wages and benefits, members of UFCW Local 538 carried out an 11-month strike against Tyson Foods. During the walkout the workers led a number of solidarity rallies in Jefferson to reach out for support from other unionists in the area and the country. During the strike the Co-Op miners sent a solidarity message to a December 2003 rally organized by the workers at Tyson.

“The people fighting in Utah and in Jefferson are helping to preserve rights for everyone,” wrote Griep in his message to the meeting. “The owners of the mine and my employers are doing the best they can to get rid of unions.… The Militant did a great job getting the word out about our fight across the country. And I hope it continues to do so. I’ll pass the word out around here about your fight.”

“The C.W. Mining lawsuit grows out of the most important labor battle taking place in the U.S. today,” said John Studer, executive director of the Political Rights Defense Fund, which is one of the sponsors of the Militant Fighting Fund. “The fight by the Co-Op miners for real union representation and to win their jobs back serves as an example for other workers trying to take similar steps. It has also helped put unionization of coal mines across the western United States on the agenda today.”

The main goal of C.W. Mining is not solely to win a monetary judgment, Studer said. “Their aim is to use the courts to intimidate the workers involved in the struggle, to scare off anyone who offers them solidarity. They hope to shut people up, disrupt and if possible bring down papers like the Militant that report on the side of workers.” Studer placed this battle in continuity with attacks on the vanguard of the working class in this country going back to frame-up trials of leaders of the Socialist Workers Party and the Minneapolis Teamsters in the early 1940s. This prosecution was part of the U.S. government and employers’ attempt to cripple the leadership of the labor resistance in the Midwest and to stifle opposition in the labor movement to Washington’s drive to join World War II.” He also pointed to the example of the SWP’s lawsuit in the 1970s—a more than decade-long battle against illegal government spying and disruption that was victorious.

“We’re asking participants in this meeting to become partisans in this fight,” said Studer. “First by becoming endorsers of the Militant Fighting Fund and to get out the word and win others to this fight, and second by making a generous contribution to the fund.”

Studer encouraged participants to invite supporters of the Militant Fighting Fund to speak to union meetings, on campus, and to other organizations defending political and democratic rights.

“For me it’s a question of pride that the miners have persisted in the struggle for more than a year,” Amancia Alvarado, an activist at St. Pius Catholic Church in the Pilsen Mexican community in Chicago, told the Militant. “Their example is important to workers here in Chicago, especially immigrant workers. The bosses in Utah are trying to prevent the truth from being told and are trying to weaken the miners’ struggle. That’s why they’re attacking the Militant—because the Militant tells the truth and is part of the struggle, the workers’ voice in the struggle.” Alvarado pledged to organize a meeting in the Pilsen community to get out word about the fight against the mine bosses’ suit and raise funds for the Militant Fighting Fund.

“I see this as part of the broader struggle of working people,” said Joe Kapsner, from Minnesota. “Lawsuits like this are part of the ruling class bag of tricks. They’re trying to deal a blow to the working class with this suit, to slow the fight down and buy some time for their side. That’s why it’s important to defeat their efforts.”

Ball State University professors Jerry and Jeanne Uhlman were present. “This fight is important because of its long-term implications for organizing miners in western coal,” said Jerry Uhlman. “It also has implications nationally and internationally.”

“It’s important to get people to come together in meetings like this to learn about the case and ask questions,” said Jeanne Uhlman.

Dennis Richter, an SWP leader based in San Francisco, gave a brief fund appeal presentation. “It’s fitting that this meeting is taking place on the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of the last U.S. imperialist troops from Vietnam, marking the victory of the decades-long struggle of the Vietnamese workers and farmers,” he said. “It’s also taking place on the eve of May Day, the international workers holiday.”

Richter described the Militant’s role in getting out the truth not only about the miners’ fight but about other labor struggles as well, from organizing drives by meat cutters in the Midwest to the strike by packinghouse workers in Denmark.

More than $3,500 was contributed at the meeting. This included three contributions of more than $500.
 
 
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‘Militant,’ SWP brief backs motion to dismiss harassment lawsuit
Free-speech fight endorsed in Utah, N.Y.  
 
 
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