The leaflet says more longshoremen on the East and Gulf coasts are refusing to handle cargo from Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). In July, the African Dawn was forced to take 56 cases of Rhodesian nickel back to where it came from, for the second time. The strength of this rank and file movement in cities like Baltimore forced the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) to pass a resolution supporting the boycott of Rhodesian goods. In New York, the union hasn't informed the rank and file of the resolution, so possibly Rhodesian goods are still being unloaded here. The Rhodesian Coalition to Stop Rhodesian Imports has been picketing ships coming from Southern Africa for three months, putting pressure...
The leaflet says more longshoremen on the East and Gulf coasts are refusing to handle cargo from Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). In July, the African Dawn was forced to take 56 cases of Rhodesian nickel back to where it came from, for the second time. The strength of this rank and file movement in cities like Baltimore forced the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) to pass a resolution supporting the boycott of Rhodesian goods. In New York, the union hasn't informed the rank and file of the resolution, so possibly Rhodesian goods are still being unloaded here. The Rhodesian Coalition to Stop Rhodesian Imports has been picketing ships coming from Southern Africa for three months, putting pressure on the union leadership not to allow the Rhodesian cargo to be unloaded and on the shipping companies not to carry the cargo. Africans who make up 96% of the population of Zimbabwe live under conditions of virtual slavery. They are controlled by the fascist Smith regime, which represents only the tiny white European minority. The black majority in Zimbabwe have united and taken up arms against the Smith regime. The Smith regime has been able to hold out because they are backed by the U.S. government and U.S. corporations. The leaflet says the U.S. government sends money to the Smith regime and protect the interests of corporations like the shipping companies, Union Carbide and General Motors. The leaflet calls for fighting for a decent life here and supporting the liberation struggles abroad, recognizing we have a common enemy. That's what the Baltimore longshoremen have done. Also, coal miners in Alabama have struck to demand an end to imports of South African coal, because it threatens their jobs and to protest the slave condition of miners in South Africa.
