By James Vassilopoulos
In a court case with big implications for democratic rights, organisations and individuals in the United States are being sued for a picket in solidarity with the Liverpool dockers.
Last September, labour and community supporters of the sacked Liverpool dockers picketed a scab ship, the Neptune Jade, in the Port of Oakland in California.
The ship was carrying cargo loaded at Thamesport in England where the port authority is a subsidiary of the Mersey Dock and Harbour Company. Two years ago, the company sacked 500 dockers in Liverpool after they refused to cross a picket line established to protest against poor working conditions.
The Oakland picket prevented the cargo on Neptune Jade from being loaded. In response, Yusen Terminals; the Pacific Maritime Association, which is representing ship-owners; and Centennial Stevedoring Services have taken the picketers to court.
According to the Dispatcher, published by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Robert Irminger, the picket captain and a member of the ILWU, was charged with contempt of court for continuing to picket after a court injunction limited the number of picketers.
The bosses' lawyers were demanding that Irminger serve a jail sentence for five days and pay a $10,000 fine. On December 3, Judge Vernon Nakahara ruled that Irminger violated the court order, but found that the violation was minimal and sentenced Irminger to pay a fine of US$100.
However, Irminger and ILWU local 10 executive board member Jack Heyman are still being sued for monetary damages, possibly millions of dollars.
This second court case is potentially more serious. In tactics reminiscent of a McCarthyite witch-hunt, the companies are trying to make people name anyone who participated in the picket.
This tactic is designed to suffocate free speech and labour rights, and scare people away from committing the "crime" of being in solidarity with other workers.
Management lawyers are attempting to organise a wide net of defendants, including people and organisations which did not participate in the picket line, such as the Laney College of Labor Studies, the Golden Gate chapter of the Labor Party, and the Peace and Freedom Party.
Management is also using the "discovery" procedures in the civil suit to force individuals and groups to give over enormous amounts of information. This includes faxes, email messages, knowledge of any person who participated in the action, membership lists, meeting minutes, telephone records and diaries.
The ILWU president, Brian McWilliams, has instructed the union's lawyers to object to most of the discovery requests on the grounds of the first amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly.
"We've been asked for information they are not entitled to. We're not even going to look to see if we have it", said McWilliams.
Funds for the defence case and resolutions of support can be sent to the Liverpool Dockers Victory Defence Committee, PO Box 2574 Oakland, California, 94614. Email