31.10.1996

Common experience

The Liverpool dockers international steering committee solidarity conference in Paris last week further consolidated rank and file organisation.

Reports of solidarity action came in from around the globe. Dockworkers throughout Spain held a one-hour stoppage on Monday in support of the sacked dockers. Although workers in Denmark do not handle ships from Liverpool, they held 24-hour and one-hour solidarity actions. Sweden is continuing its action against the ACL company. The next conference in March is to be held in Canada.

The conference discussed the effects of globalisation and transnational shipping corporations supported by governments throughout the world, and how to organise international workers’ opposition. Deteriorating standards of living are common to all dockworkers and this conference brought together rank and file workers in unions both affiliated and non-affiliated to the International Transport Federation. Although different languages are spoken, dockworkers throughout the world have a common experience.

The Liverpool dockers are also continuing their action against the police. Since the beginning of the dispute they have been calling for a public inquiry into policing. Kevin Robinson told us that “all we want is our jobs back”, and yet police have faced off the dockers since the beginning. Dockworkers who used to support the police no longer have such faith. “It is not just a case of a few bad apples - they are actually trained in this way,” Kevin said.

Dockers are campaigning on behalf of people arrested after the weekend of action at the end of September and charged with obstructing the police. If you have any photo or film footage of the day, please send it to Kevin Robinson, c/o Transport House, Liverpool. Officers on the day had no ID and on no occasion were prepared to give their name or number, so the campaign is keen to identify those particularly implicated in the violence.

Linda Addison