Read on Twitter
THREAD 1/x
The longshoremen's union that organized today's shut down of West Coast ports in honor of #Juneteenth
and #GeorgeFloydProtests are from THE BAY.
@ILWU_10 in San Francisco and Local 34 in Oakland. They're among the most radical anti-racist unions in the U.S. https://twitter.com/LinaBlanco/status/1274059418770927616
The longshoremen's union that organized today's shut down of West Coast ports in honor of #Juneteenth
and #GeorgeFloydProtests are from THE BAY. @ILWU_10 in San Francisco and Local 34 in Oakland. They're among the most radical anti-racist unions in the U.S. https://twitter.com/LinaBlanco/status/1274059418770927616
2/x Since their inception, ILWU has been using labor (namely, their position in the system of capitalism) to take anti-racist stances.
Famously in 1984, @ILWU_10 refused to unload cargo from South Africa in solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle.
https://www.ilwu.org/death-of-nelson-mandela-recalls-decades-of-ilwu-support-for-anti-apartheid-struggle/
Famously in 1984, @ILWU_10 refused to unload cargo from South Africa in solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle.
https://www.ilwu.org/death-of-nelson-mandela-recalls-decades-of-ilwu-support-for-anti-apartheid-struggle/
3/x In 2009, following the police shooting of Oscar Grant, ILWU members from SF and Oakland held a rally calling for justice.
Longshoremen themselves are familiar with police violence. In 2003 Oakland PD injured dozens of peaceful anti-war demonstrators. http://www.internationalist.org/defendoakland251003.html
Longshoremen themselves are familiar with police violence. In 2003 Oakland PD injured dozens of peaceful anti-war demonstrators. http://www.internationalist.org/defendoakland251003.html
4/x "We understand the legacy of slavery and how black people were considered 3/5 of a human being, and we notice how police respond to blacks.... What we have to understand is that this is a working class issue."
- Clarence Thomas, a 3rd generation longshoreman here in the Bay
- Clarence Thomas, a 3rd generation longshoreman here in the Bay
5/5 @ProfPeterCole says if you don't know the history of ILWU, you can't understand why the Bay Area is the epicenter of such radical movements.
We talk w/ him + Thomas about today's historic #Juneteenth shutdown and ILWU's legacy of anti-racism work. https://www.kqed.org/news/11825265/bay-area-dockworkers-continue-decades-of-fighting-oppression-on-juneteenth
We talk w/ him + Thomas about today's historic #Juneteenth
shutdown and ILWU's legacy of anti-racism work. https://www.kqed.org/news/11825265/bay-area-dockworkers-continue-decades-of-fighting-oppression-on-juneteenth
"If you really want to begin to impact capital in this country, you need workers. And workers' greatest leverage is at the point of production. That's because when you stop working, production stops, and you get everyone's attention."
LISTEN
https://www.kqed.org/news/11825265/bay-area-dockworkers-continue-decades-of-fighting-oppression-on-juneteenth
LISTEN
https://www.kqed.org/news/11825265/bay-area-dockworkers-continue-decades-of-fighting-oppression-on-juneteenth
