AN OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR ALAN J. DIXON, SENATOR PAUL SIMON, U.S. REPRESENTATIVES FRANK ANNUNZIO AND SIDNEY R. YATES FROM THE ILLINOIS LABOR NETWORK AGAINST APARTHEID
AN OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR ALAN J. DIXON, SENATOR PAUL SIMON, U.S. REPRESENTATIVES FRANK ANNUNZIO AND SIDNEY R. YATES FROM THE ILLINOIS LABOR NETWORK AGAINST APARTHEID
Letter signed by Johnnie Jackson, President, Chicago Chapter, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW); Jack Parton, Director, District 31, United Steelworkers of America; and W.G. Stewart, Director, Region 4, United Auto Workers (UAW). The letter says on February 24, 1988, the South African government banned 17 antiapartheid organizations and prohibited the nation's largest labor federation the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) - from all political activity; Bishop Desmond Tutu and other church leaders were arrested while attempting to peaceably protest the orders. The letter says COSATU is prohibited from calling for the release of detainees, from opposing forced removals or from...
Letter signed by Johnnie Jackson, President, Chicago Chapter, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW); Jack Parton, Director, District 31, United Steelworkers of America; and W.G. Stewart, Director, Region 4, United Auto Workers (UAW). The letter says on February 24, 1988, the South African government banned 17 antiapartheid organizations and prohibited the nation's largest labor federation the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) - from all political activity; Bishop Desmond Tutu and other church leaders were arrested while attempting to peaceably protest the orders. The letter says COSATU is prohibited from calling for the release of detainees, from opposing forced removals or from supporting disinvestment or sanctions; it is banned from defending members who are jailed including Moses Mayekiso of the National Union of Metalworkers; COSATU cannot hold any public meetings concerning these and other issues; it is essentially prohibited from engaging in any peaceful protest. The letter says without international pressure, any hope for a peaceful transition to majority rule and an end to apartheid has been eliminated; the Reagan Administration's policies toward South Africa only help to bolster the apartheid regime and its violent and repressive actions against the majority of its people. The letter says today we march under the banner of the "Illinois Labor Network Against Apartheid" representing unions of auto, steel and mine workers; service and retail employees; transit workers, teachers and teamsters; federal, state, county and city employees; garment and textile workers; food and commercial workers; machinists and electrical workers; sheet metal and communication workers; and many more. The letter says we march with the Chicago Committee in Solidarity with Southern Africa, with the full support of the Chicago City Council; we urge YOU to support comprehensive sanctions by co-sponsoring and taking the lead for passage of S. 556/H.R. 1580 which call for comprehensive sanctions against South Africa, in th.is session of Congress. This letter is presented in person on behalf of the Illinois Labor Network Against Apartheid on March 18, 1988 by Charles Barton, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 500P, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; Josephine Lewis Brooks, Staff Representative, District 31, United Steelworkers of America; Basil Clunie, Co-Chair, Chicago Committee in Solidarity with Southern Africa; Forrest Gibson, Executive Vice-President, Local 1550, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; Robert Nelson, National Vice- President, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Alfonso Richardson, Vice-President of the Executive Board, Local 881, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; Carole Travis, President, Local 719, United Auto Workers; Mitch Vogel, President, Local 4100, University Professionals of Illinois, American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Jarvis Williams, President, Local 46, Service Employees International Union (SEIU); and Richard Ziebell, President, Local 477, United Auto Workers (UAW).
