Vol.64/No.19 May 15, 2000
South Carolina dockworkers regain union work
BY LAUREN HART
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina—After a five-month fight, members of the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) in Charleston, South Carolina, will once again work the ships of Nordana Lines.
In a major challenge to union rights on the docks, the Danish shipping company began using a nonunion stevedoring company last December, paying workers less than half of what ILA members receive for working container ships. It was the first attempt by a container line calling at Charleston to use nonunion labor.
Members of ILA Local 1422 responded by picketing Nordana's ships. On January 20 some 600 cops attacked hundreds of protesting workers to prevent them from reaching the docks.
Defense of framed-up unionists
After this police riot, the cops, courts, and media went on a campaign to smear the union. Initial police charges against the unionists were dropped for lack of evidence, but a grand jury indicted four workers on felony "riot" charges, with state officials insisting that they are enforcing South Carolina's antiunion "right-to-work" laws. A fifth unionist was indicted in recent weeks.
In the months since the police assault, ILA members continued to picket every Nordana ship that came to port. They won backing from dockworkers across the United States and internationally in their fight to defend union rights and against the police frame-up.
In mid-April the ILA and Nordana reached an agreement, effective May 1, for ILA members to work the company's ships under the union's small-boats agreement. The pay rate is the same as for regular containerized ships, but the agreement allows smaller work gangs and more "work rule flexibility."
According to union officials, the deal won't apply if Nordana brings in ships larger than the capacity that defines the small boats. The first Nordana ship to be worked under this deal is due in port May 5. The defense effort for the indicted ILA members is continuing.
Contributions to ILA Local 1422's Dockworkers' Defense Fund can be sent to 910 Morrison Drive, Charleston, SC 29403, Attention: Robert Ford.