The West Coast shipping bosses have declared a lock-out which affects all 29
ports along the US Pacific coast. The bosses are demanding that new
technical jobs be non-union. This is a mortal attack on the union's future.
Thus while Bush prepares to go to war against Iraq he has another war
opening up on the home front - the class war - this time against US workers.
David May in the USA reports on the latest developments in this key struggle
of the American workers.
For the first time in
many years the Taft-Hartley bill has been used against the West Coast dockers
in the USA. This is a reactionary anti-union law that has been invoked to force
the dockers back to work. But this is only a temporary “solution” for the bosses.
The problems that forced the workers to take union action will not go away. Roland
Sheppard in the US looks at the issues involved.
We received this from Bob M. who gives this first-hand report from the anti-war demonstration
in San Francisco. As he says, "Any attack on Iraq is going to be followed by massive demonstrations,
and in more communities. The capitalist politicians have created anti-war
momentum that's not about to go away, as long as the threats of war, if not
actual war, persist."