The next day, Tuesday, more plants were drawn into the protest and the number of strikers increased to 3,000. At 10:30 a.m. on Thursday the 300 workers at Ringsted decided to tear up the concession contract and joined the strike at 13 other meatpacking plants at Danish Crown. After a meeting between the union and the company a joint declaration was issued saying that the company accepts the cancellation of the contract by the workers.
Dag Tirsén
Stockholm, Sweden
Puerto Rican prisoners
Militant readers may be interested in knowing that Andres Santiago and Nestor de Jesús Guishard, two of the protesters who were jailed for participating in actions in Vieques, on the date the U.S. Navy withdrew in May 2003, were freed from the federal prison in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, December 9-10. They will remain on probation for three years.
There are four others who remain imprisoned, though, including one who received a five-year sentence. Supporters of the struggle to free Puerto Rico from U.S. colonial rule are encouraged to write them.
Laura Garza
Boston, Massachusetts
The four are:
José Pérez Gonzalez #21519-069 Atlanta USP PO Box 150160 Atlanta, GA 30315 (anticipated release: Jan. 2008)
José Montańez Sanes #26317-069 MDC Guaynabo P.O. Box 2147 San Juan, PR 00922-2147 (anticipated release: May 2005)
José Vélez Acosta #23883-069 Coleman USP P.O. Box 1033 Coleman, FL 33521 (anticipated release Jan. 2006)
Jorge Cruz Hernández #26318-069 Federal Prison Camp P.O. Box 725 Edgefield, SC 29824-0725 (anticipated release: June 2005)
The letters column is an open forum for all viewpoints on subjects of interest to working people.
Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they will be abridged. Please indicate if you prefer that your initials be used rather than your full name.