Posted on 17 January 2012 by @kevin_seal
The following resolution passed Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly on Sunday, January 15, 2012:
Resolution of Occupies Longview, Portland, and Oakland: A Call to InterOccupy Action
WHEREAS, Longshore workers’ jurisdiction is under an unprecedented attack; and,
WHEREAS, West Coast dockworkers fought and died to establish that jurisdiction; and,
WHEREAS, Longshore workers have always been at the forefront in the struggle for social justice and better working conditions for all; and,
WHEREAS, Longshore workers have inspired working people across North America and around the world; and,
WHEREAS, EGT is engaged in a race-to-the-bottom that works to destroy a long history of good family wage jobs throughout the region and around the world; and,
WHEREAS, it is also known that Bunge, Ltd., a multinational conglomerate and majority shareholder of EGT, with direct ties to Wall Street, has used its power in the grain trade to manipulate global grain prices, to evade taxes in Argentina, to terrorize the people of the Amazon through deforestation, to force Brazilian workers into near slave conditions while their indigenous populations are starved out over soybean pricing, and to violate the Clean Air Act, among other offenses; and,
WHEREAS, Occupies Longview, Portland, and Oakland recognize the blatant union-busting tactics of EGT and its parent company Bunge, as well as its attack on the Longshore workers, who are powerful allies for workers around the world; and,
WHEREAS, according to Longshore workers the empty grain ship will be escorted by armed U.S. Coast Guard vessels and helicopters to the Port of Longview, Washington on the Columbia River; and,
WHEREAS, this is the first known use of the U.S. military to intervene in a labor dispute on the side of management in 40 years; and,
WHEREAS, the U.S. Armed Forces, which have been oppressing other nations for the interests of the 1%, is now being used against the same workers whose tax money sponsors those forces; therefore be it
RESOLVED, that Occupies Longview, Portland, and Oakland call on EGT to immediately cease its attacks on our communities, our food supply and the jurisdiction of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union; and be it further
RESOLVED, that Occupies Longview, Portland, and Oakland call on all Occupy General Assemblies, the working class, and the “99%” everywhere to come to the aid of Longshore workers, and to support them in any way possible in their fight against the EGT and Bunge; and be it further
RESOLVED, that Occupies Longview, Portland, and Oakland request that anyone willing to participate in a community blockade of the first EGT grain ship in Longview, Washington, do so when alerted that the ship will arrive; and be it further
RESOLVED, that all General Assemblies, any group of their members, as well as workers around the world who cannot physically join the community blockade in Longview, Washington, mobilize in solidarity through direct action in their communities—especially those located in the Midwest, the Delta, Occupies along the Mississippi River, and all other international locations where Bunge’s growth and operations are located, and be it further
RESOLVED, that General Assemblies across the country and the mobilized 99% across the globe condem any state or private-sponsored efforts to arrest direct action against EGT, or workers participating in those actions; and be it further
RESOLVED, that General Assemblies challenge any charges brought against workers or comrades struggling for economic, social, and envrionmental justice; and finally be it
RESOLVED, that Occupies Longview, Portland, and Oakland forward this resolution to all Occupy General Assemblies, the working people of the 99% in their communities, and comrades in the Occupy Movement around the world.
In solidarity,
Occupy Longview, Occupy Portland, and Occupy Oakland
Please sign up to join the caravan in solidarity with the Longshoremen and with our General Assemblies.
