Andy just a note to let you know how it was! Great job on the part of Earth First! Outstanding bunch of folks. Longshoremen really enjoyed the EF-ers and what they did. They said for once we didn't shut down the port it was someone else. Well this forward pretty much sums it up and I hope we do more. Talk to you later Andy!

Rob!!
USAW

Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 17:16:38 -0800 (PST)
To: intexile@bari.iww.org
Subject: Kaiser article (fwd)

There was an action in solidarity with the striking Kaiser Workers last weekend. The following article is by an IWW member for the IWW's newspaper, the Industrial Worker. I've been given permission to forward this and put it on the web. Enjoy every minute of it!

Just in case any of you were wondering, the Tacoma action was a complete success!!! Solidarity works.

For the One Big Union,

-FW Steve x344543
East Bay IWW / Branch Secretary Droid

East Bay IWW http://bari.iww.org/ Phone (510) 845-0540
Timber Workers IU 120 http://www.iww.org/iu120/local/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 16:57:29 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Kaiser article

The action was called by members of the United Steel Workers of America who have been on strike for the last three months. Management at Kaiser Aluminum, owned by Charles Hurwitz of Maxxam corporation, has been determined to break the union with the used of scab labor and strikebreaking goons from the International Management Assistance Corporation (IMAC). The strike was prompted by Kaiser's refusal to talk to the union about down sizing and cuts in benefits and retirement, and kaiser had begun to move trailers onto the polluted factory site to house scabs before negotiations were to begin.

In what had been termed by the media as an "odd alliance", members of the IWW and Earth First! worked in support of the steel workers, and successfully shut down the pier for the day. The action was planned by EF! members from the West Coast, and the IWW picket was coordinated by Marine Transport Workers in Seattle and Oakland, and the Olympia IWW. A spokesperson for kaiser was quoted in the Tacoma Spokesman Review as saying that the action confirmed "concerns that the union was working with an extremist organization". Port of Tacoma official were caught by total surprise at the action which took place right in front of their corporate offices. The steelworkers maintained their legal informational picket of six during the action.

The first of the waterfront workers, members of the ILWU began arriving to work the ship at about 7:00 am. Jeremy Read, the organizer for MTW local #9 in the Bay Area, explained to a crane operator the nature of the picket. The crane operator, realizing his right not to endanger the health and safety of anyone on the job site, left. Other Longshore workers without hesitation honored the action, and many who had not been dispatched to the Sea Diamond came down both in support and curiosity. Many were surprised that Earth First! had acted in solidarity with union workers, as many had viewed their actions in the past as opposed to the interests of workers, partiularly in the lumber industry. Other Longshore workers grabbed "bulls" or forklifts, and moved checker shacks around to the picket site for picketers to get out of the rain.

Earth First members scouted Pier 7, and the first two were arrested after attempting to occupy the crane. Fortunately, others had made it up to the crane's boom, and other were posted in the scaffolding of the conveyor belt to the silos, 150 feet above ground. When media arrived, the climbers attempted to unfurl a banner which read "HURWITZ CUTS JOBS LIKE HE CUTS TREES". The wind ended up blowing the banner and the climbers about, creating a spectacle for the TV crews that were filming. These climbers were cited for criminal trespass, but were not hurt. The climbers in the crane descended in the afternoon, and were not cited or arrested.

The Sea Diamond dropped anchor at about 10:00am, and water craft ranging from an IWW sailboat to personal water craft drifted around the port, preventing the ship from docking. Foss tug boats, operated by Inland Boatman's Union members cruised by to check at the action, as did Coast Guard vessels.

The effort has been a boon for the IWW efforts to organize the waterfront in the Puget Sound, as the action had resulted in much publicity for the IWW, and many contacts have been made in the industry for future activity. Seattle MTW's continue to meet with militant steel workers, who have pledged to support the IWW in future organizing drives.

The action has also marked a turning point for Earth First, who has been criticized as being "anti-worker" by many workers in the lumber industry. Right wing elements have exploited this perception to discredit Earth First among workers. The action in Tacoma proves that radical environmentalists can support workers. EF! organizers maintained that this was "the steel worker's show", while at the same time reminded the press of Maxxam's unsafe practices in the lumber industry with Pacific Lumber.

-John Persak