400,000 dockers stand with Seward, Alaska in condemning Possehl Erzkontor and Alaska Logistics
Photo by Suzi Ramsey Towsley
The ITF Dockers, representing 400,000 dock workers worldwide, stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Seward, Alaska, represented by International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union (ILWU Unit 60).
We condemn the actions by Possehl Erzkontor GmbH (Peter Cremer) and Alaska Logistics, who have recently hired non-union, out-of-state longshore workers to perform jobs historically done by members of ILWU Unit 60. The actions of Alaska Logistics are nothing short of union-busting.
We further condemn the arrest of the five members of the ILWU for picketing and charged by the Seward Police for civil disobedience, simply because they were defending good community jobs. We call for charges to be dropped, and for the police to recognise the rights provided under the first amendment of the United States Constitution.
Never in our lifetime have we seen such economic uncertainty – the highest economic inequality, record levels of unemployment, and an attack on union rights. Alaska Logistics, in hiring workers on substandard wages, threatens the economic livelihood in Seward. For decades, the hard work of the sisters and brothers of the ILWU, along with their economic buying power, has helped small business and the local community prosper. This is now at stake.
Paddy Crumlin, ITF President and Dockers’ Section Chair, said: “Alaska Logistics must be held accountable for their union busting. The local politicians need to intervene to stop this race to the bottom by ensuring that the work is done by qualified longshore workers.
“Further, the arrest of five longshore workers is abhorrent, these men and women were standing up for their community. We will continue to stand with our sisters and brothers from ILWU Unit 60 until Alaska Logistics reverses it course.
“Possehl Erzkontor GmbH (Peter Cremer) and Alaska Logistics must be held accountable, it is time for Possell Erzkontor to intervene to ensure that no further harm is done to the workers’ community,” said Paddy Crumlin.