'St. John 5' support Charleston 5

Special to the World

ST. JOHN, New Brunswick, Canada - Five longshoremen from the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick were in Columbia, S.C. on June 9 to support the Charleston Five.

Terry Breen, Terry Wilson, Pat McEachern, Fred Nice and Pat Riley, who are all members of International Longshoremens Association (ILA) Local 273, were attending the historic march to show solidarity with the Charleston dockworkers and their families. To be there, the Saint John dockworkers had to endure a 25-hour drive to the South Carolina state capital.

ILA Local 273 is one of the founding members of the International Dockworkers Council (IDC), a communications and support action network for dockworker unions around the globe. The IDC evolved out of the Liverpool Dockworkers Dispute and is, in fact, deeply indebted to those brave and innovative dockworkers from the Port of Liverpool, England who recognized the need for direct support amongst waterfront unions.

Riley, a Zone Coordinator for the IDC, commented that, "The lesson of Liverpool is that courage and ingenuity are not enough to win in this new world of globalization. To defeat the evil excesses of the world's elite, the workers and peoples of the world must stand together in true solidarity."

The Columbia rally was such a show of solidarity. Workers, social activists, environmentalists and church leaders from all over North America and from Sweden, Denmark and Korea were present to show their support for the Charleston cause. As was recognized at the rally, support has only begun to grow.

An example of this momentum was exhibited upon return of the Saint John dockworkers to their port city. The New Brunswick Federation of Labour was conducting its annual convention in Saint John and ILA Local 273 delegates were able to get an emergency resolution passed in support of the Charleston dockworkers and their families.

The same resolution will be forwarded on to the Canadian Labor Congress (CLC) by the provincial labour group.

"We have no doubt that the CLC will also pledge their support," said Riley.