[Marxism] ILWU leadership and Thomas (Re: An informative piece bymy son, Ali),

[Red Net <dwalters@xxxxxxx>]

I had the opportunity to participate on this Rally/March/Picket. The
article in Counter-Punch is very accurate. I think the article from the
Spartacist spit-off Internationalist Group is pie-in-the-sky, however.

The radicalization needed for real hot-cargoing war goods is not
there...yet. It would be tactically suicidal for Local 10 and 34, with
maybe 2,000 members between them, to try it actually implement such a
tactic on their own...they would of been smashed and no one would of
come to their rescue, least of all the *other* big local in the Port of
LA/Long Beach whose membership is 5 times as big and is far to the
right politically than that of Local 10s.

First, not all of Local 10 is anti-war. Far from it. At union meetings
where militants can push an action, yes, but among all the working
members on the docks? I don't think so. Only the Portland area Local
has, to my knowledge, passed anti-war resolutions. But it's the LA
local, which could quickly, and easily break any Local 10 strangle-hold
on military cargo.

If Local 10 did so, they would have my support, the support of USLAW,
atni-war activists and some other Bay Area locals of the AFL-CIO but
that's it. But for this to happen, a continuing education of the
Local's membership would indeed have to take place, and it's happening,
but clearly not the IG's expected pace. The IG, BTW, has no one in
Local 10, which should come as no surprise.

Clearance Thomas, from my viewpoint and only last year meeting him, is
newly radicalized by events surrounding the last ILWU contract. This is
true for other long-standing militants in Local 10. The fact that
Thomas went to Iraq and came back to give his local, his International
and the entire Bay Area labor movement an education in what imperialism
is doing in Iraq is to be commended, not condemned just because he
doesn't meet the IG's standard of "anti-Imperialism".

David Walters


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