The statement says the following strategy has been proposed and discussed by clergy, unionists, and anti-apartheid activists and is now in the process of being implemented; please let us know if, and in what manner, you might be able to participate; further information and supporting documents can be obtained from the Northern California Ecumenical Council's affiliated organization, WITNESS for South Africa. The statement says support the Clerical Statement issued on December 6, 1984 (attached); the bottom line of this Statement is that the individual docker be secured the contractual right to refuse to work South African cargo with no other penalty than the loss of the wages that he/she would...
The statement says the following strategy has been proposed and discussed by clergy, unionists, and anti-apartheid activists and is now in the process of being implemented; please let us know if, and in what manner, you might be able to participate; further information and supporting documents can be obtained from the Northern California Ecumenical Council's affiliated organization, WITNESS for South Africa. The statement says support the Clerical Statement issued on December 6, 1984 (attached); the bottom line of this Statement is that the individual docker be secured the contractual right to refuse to work South African cargo with no other penalty than the loss of the wages that he/she would have otherwise been paid. The statement says publicly pressure the Pacific Maritime Association to contact the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union for the purpose of negotiating the contractual provisions as would recognize and protect the right in dispute. The statement says publicly pressure Nedlloyd Lines to allow dockers working its ships this right to act their conscience with respect to South African cargo. The statement says publicly pressure the Pacific Maritime Association and Nedlloyd Lines to drop their respective legal actions against Local 10 of the ILWU. The statement says since these demands are eminently just and reasonable, moral and practical, they may--at a minimum--be expected to receive exceptionally broad church, labor and community support; such support can in turn be expected to "deliver" the PMA to the negotiating table. The statement says the Nedlloyd Lines offices and piers in its U.S. ports-of-call: Tacoma and Vancouver, WA, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, New Orleans, Savannah, Charleston, Portsmouth, Baltimore and New York. The statement says the stevedore company which in each port is contracted by Nedlloyd to work its vessels; these companies might be asked to no longer bid on such work; i.e., Nedlloyd could be completely "frozen out" of U.S. ports, if the stevedore company refused to bid on the work associated with the loading and discharge of its vessels. The statement says WITNESS has talked with activists in each of PMA's regional centers and Nedlloyd's U.S. ports-of-call; there was a great deal of interest in supporting the ILWU members and discussions are proceeding as to how they might take part. The document says WITNESS has also contacted Dutch groups and the Dutch Council of Churches; they have begun pressuring Nedlloyd and are eager to get more information to their press. The statement says support for these "acts of conscience" has been heard from black trade unions in South Africa, and has been expressed to the ILWU; when talking with the Washington Office on Africa, an important contact was made with a visiting delegation from FOSATU which expressed enthusiasm with this work stoppage. The statement discusses FOSATU (Federation of South African Trade Unions), the dictates of his/her conscience, and the Transpacific Transportation Company.
