The Militant - November 30, 2004 -- Puerto Rico: striking water workers face FBI assaults

Vol. 68/No. 44 November 30, 2004

Puerto Rico: striking water workers face FBI assaults
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BY LAURA GARZA
BOSTON—The 4,300 water workers on strike against the Water and Sewer Authority in Puerto Rico are standing up to attacks from both management and the U.S. government. The walkout began October 4. The water authority and Washington are seeking to crush the strike by issuing subpoenas against union leaders, raiding their homes, and threatening to arrest strikers.

The day after the November 2 U.S. elections, 60 agents from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) raided the homes of five Independent Authentic Union (UIA) leaders, carting off personal papers, jewelry, money, and computer files.

“This is a raid to pressure us, to put pressure on the strike,” said UIA vice president Andrés Carrasquillo in a radio interview. “We are not going to yield,” he added. “And we are not going to end the strike. The strike will end when negotiations on the agreement are complete.” A raid by FBI and IRS agents was also conducted on union offices October 20, with the government claiming it is investigating fraud in the management of a union-run health-care fund. When the bosses at the Water and Sewer Authority cut off payments to the fund unilaterally and set up a different fund, the workers went out on strike. Also at issue in the walkout are the grievance procedures and the number of union representatives allowed.

Washington has convened a federal grand jury, which has begun hearing testimony regarding alleged corruption in handling the union health-care fund.

In response to leaks about pending arrest orders against the UIA president and other union leaders, the federal treasury representative in Puerto Rico said the cops would take this step “when we are ready.” The mayor of the western city of San Germán joined in the strike-breaking efforts at the end of October, referring the names of three union members in the area to the FBI as suspects in the contamination of a local reservoir with oil.

In a show of solidarity with the strikers, on November 13 the Movement of Puerto Rican Workers sponsored a 20-car caravan that traveled from Cataño to the offices in San Juan of the Water and Sewer Authority. There the president of the water workers union was joined by Víctor Villalba, president of the Puerto Rican Workers Federation (CTP), and Víctor Rodríguez, president of the Broad Front of Truck Drivers.

In addition to the water authority bosses and the federal authorities, other groups have launched attacks on the strike leadership. The newspaper of the Socialist Movement of Workers in Puerto Rico, Bandera Roja, for example, chose this moment to run an article by Ángel Quiles Vega publicly attacking the UIA leadership. While expressing support for the strike, the article demands an accounting by UIA officials for alleged misuse of funds, calling on them to come clean and accusing them of “undemocratic” and “bureaucratic” methods.

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