ILWU Vows to
Fight Police
Takeover of
Costa Rican
Longshore Union
Jennifer Sargent,
Coast
communications
director at the
ILWU, sends us
the latest on
the struggles by
longshore
workers in Costa
Rica.
The
International
Longshore and
Warehouse Union
(ILWU) has asked
the Obama
administration
to investigate
illegal ousting
of elected union
leaders.
Declaring that
longshore
workers are
united beyond
international
borders, the
ILWU today
denounced
Wednesday’s
police takeover
of SINTRAJAP,
the union
representing
longshore
workers in the
Caribbean ports
of Limón and
Moín, Costa
Rica, and
promised to
increase its
months-long
campaign to help
restore union
democracy in the
Central American
country. Limón
and Moín are
major importers
of petroleum and
other products
and major
exporters of
bananas, coffee,
cocoa and
coconuts.
ILWU President
Robert McEllrath
said:
Longshore
workers are
united globally,
and when police
start breaking
glass and
occupying the
union hall in
Costa Rica, it’s
a call for
international
solidarity.
According to the
Costa Rican
newspaper El
País:
A group of 60
armed police
closed streets
around the
building of
JAPDEVA’s union
[SINTRAJAP] in
Limón, while
several knocked
down doors and
stormed the
building, at
4:30 a.m., in
the Costa Rican
Caribbean port.
In January, the
democratically
elected leaders
of SINTRAJAP
were replaced in
what the ILWU
calls a “sham
election forced
by the
government in
apparent
violation of
international
labor law.”
Since that time,
the ILWU Coast
Longshore
Division has
supported the
union’s Costa
Rican
counterparts by:
* Writing a
letter to
President Barack
Obama from ILWU
President Robert
McEllrath
outlining the
issue and
requesting
assistance.
* Educating
members of
Congress on the
issue, prompting
a letter signed
by 25 U.S.
senators and
representatives
asking Secretary
of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton
to investigate.
* Hosting a
delegation of
Costa Rican
dockers at the
annual ILWU
Coast Longshore
Division’s
Caucus, where
representatives
of all 25,000
members voted
unanimously to
support
SINTRAJAP’s
fight to restore
its elected
leaders.
* Placing
several
full-page
advertisements
in major Costa
Rican
newspapers,
including La
Nacion and El
Semanario, to
educate citizens
on the
undemocratic
moves of their
government.
McEllrath’s
letter to
President Obama
ends with this
message:
Dockworkers
worldwide are of
a strong and
unique
fraternity that
transcends
nationalism.
Cargo vessels
and their owners
are not
dependent on any
one country.
Neither are
dockworkers. An
injury to one is
an injury to
all.
For the original
report go to:
http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/05/28/ilwu-vows-to-fight-police-takeover-of-costa-rican-longshore-union/
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