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MAKING CONTACT Transcript: #10-99 Crossing the Line: Civil Disobedience Phillip Babich: Welcome to Making Contact, an international radio program seeking to create connections between people, vital ideas and important information. This week on Making Contact: Jerome Scott: You make that civil disobedience, you going get some responses, you know. And responses going to be different. They’re going to want to compromise or they’re going to do something different about the issue, once they see that a mass of people is in the street about this issue. Then what that does is ignite other communities, who say, "If they can get their community to respond to them, we can get our community to respond to us." Phillip Babich: From a long-running newspaper strike in Detroit, to anti-logging protest in the Northwest, activists are putting their causes and bodies on the line and risking arrest to make a point. Often media coverage of such events, be it blocking delivery trucks with a human chain or refusing to unload cargo from freighters, lacks sufficient context; activists may appear impetuous or quixotic to someone who isn't aware of the sequence of events that led them to civil disobedience. On this program, we take a look at the use of civil disobedience as an organizing tactic. I’m Phillip Babich, your host this week on Making Contact. In 1985, Kaiser Aluminum almost went bankrupt, but recovered after the CEO of the Maxxam Corporation, Charles Hurwitz, bought the company. Hurwitz convinced workers to take a pay cut and to trade vacation time for wages, promising to return the favor once the company made its comeback. But despite making record profits in 1997, Kaiser Aluminum went back on the deal, eliminated 20% of the work force, and cut benefits. The company proposed a new contract, which the workers rejected, citing a number of unfair labor practices by Kaiser. On September 30, 1998, workers at five plants across the country went on strike; joining in were members of the United Steel Workers of America in Tacoma, Washington. By December, workers resorted to civil disobedience to get Kaiser to listen to them. Robert Lalicker, media representative from United Steelworkers of America Local 7945 explains the workers' frustration. Robert Lalicker: We had to do something to get the company’s attention. We had to do something to let them know we were there fighting I mean picketing at the main gate. They have many laws in their favor. The companies have gained lots of ground in the political arena as far as trampling on workers’ rights. We had to do something to make our position known, to let it be heard that we weren’t full of ‘stuff’; we were out there actually fighting for our jobs. We sincerely wanted our jobs. And doing an action like that, we were able to make that case, to magnify the position of Kaiser Aluminum as not being cooperative with local law enforcement, local authorities, or the workers. Phillip Babich: During the Kaiser strike, activists from the environmental group, Earth First! and members of the International Workers of the World decided to join the Steelworkers in solidarity. Earth First! and the IWW saw connections between their own concerns and those of the Steelworkers. Charles Hurwitz is also the owner of Pacific Lumber, which continues to cut down old-growth redwoods in Northern California. Kim Marks is with Earth First! in Washington. Kim Marks: The first couple of months of our strike Kaiser Aluminum spent over eight million dollars to bust the strike. That, to me, just shows very blatantly that they don’t care about the workers at all. They’re not interested in meeting their needs. They’re just interested in stopping their strike; but not if that means listening to their workers or giving the workers what they need to be safe and healthy workers. The steelworkers have so much heart and energy that they’re putting into their strike. They’re so dedicated and they have a lot of respect in the community. I don’t think that you could call any of their demands radical or extreme. They just want to be safe and be taken care of by a company that they’ve taken care of for an awful long time. And with their strike, they put a lot of hard hours in, before they decided to do a big outcry for help. We heard that cry and we decided to come and listen to what their struggles were; we had a lot in common, and we could definitely work together. Phillip Babich: On December 7, 1998, an unprecedented coalition between workers and environmentalists earned national media attention. Protesters rallied on the picket line as others successfully blocked the arrival of a Kaiser Aluminum ship at the Port of Tacoma, Washington. Two Earth First! activists chained themselves to a crane to prevent its movement, while others rappelled from it, unfurling a banner that read, "Hurwitz cuts jobs like he cuts trees!" IWW members coordinated a small flotilla of boats and met Kaiser's ship in the bay, notifying the captain that he would be unable to land. Police cited five protesters for criminal trespass. Robert Lalicker: Right at the very beginning, we had lots of media coverage. And then it kind of slacked off and we would do some things and get maybe one television station here and one television station there. Or a radio station. But, when we did this action -- wow! The Port of Tacoma was alive with media trucks, helicopters, everybody was involved in it. That’s why it went out across the nation. How many people in Washington, D.C. saw it? It went well. The action actually couldn’t have gone any better than it did. I mean, it was almost perfect. Everybody was amazed. We had all-time, hard core Steelworker members - you know, guys who’d been at the plant 25, 26 years, 30 years - you’d see them talking with these young Earth First! members and there was a mutual respect. Because we’re both battling the same thing - IWW members the same way. You see these groups come together and they all had this neat respect. We were all there to bring about the same result. And that was ideal, because Earth First! came to us and said, "Hey, we’re willing to do these things to help you guys out." And it was perfect, because when you have someone willing to exchange freedom to make their point, that’s a powerful statement all by itself. Kim Marks: Civil disobedience is rarely - I don’t think it’s ever been used as the first means. It’s usually the last. If there’s a way to solve a problem or put an end to the destruction, that doesn’t require people getting arrested and tortured by law enforcement, pepper sprayed ... these are not things I want to spend my free time doing. Those are not fun activities at all. I think that civil disobedience shows them all that we are non-violent. Civil disobedience educates the people on site a lot. I think it’s important to not just say something, but to act on it. You can’t just talk, you have to have follow-through; civil disobedience is completely about the follow-through. Robert Lalicker: In the past, in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, civil disobedience wasn’t something that you did. I mean, you did it in secret if you did it. But, in the ‘80s, whenever a union went on strike, there was a media blackout, "Okay, we are on strike, this is our position, we are hard line." The company made its case in public and the union just kept quiet and negotiated, and they won contracts that way. But since the ‘80s, there was laws that changed, that allowed the companies to replace workers more readily. So, things had to change and the unions had to realize, "Hey, if we’re gong to win these things, we’ve got to make some noise. The Steelworkers won the Bridgestone-Firestone strike; they used civil disobedience. They petitioned Bridgestone-Firestone all over the world. They took it to Japan, everywhere in the United States; they showed up at the Daytona 500. They just did an awesome job. And they got the individuals at Bridgestone-Firestone the best contract they ever had. It took us a long time, but every struggle - if it’s a fight, it’s a fight worth winning. Phillip Babich: In January 1999, Kaiser Aluminum responded to the striking workers' offer to return to work by locking them out. The Steelworkers have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, contending that the lockout is illegal. Laura Livoti: You’re listening to Making Contact, a production of the National Radio Project. It you want more information about the subject of this week’s program or you would like to learn how you can get involved with Making Contact, please give us a call. It’s toll free: 800-529-5736. Call that same phone number for tape and transcript orders. We also welcome comments and suggestions for future programs. Phillip Babich: At Fort Benning, Georgia, civil disobedience has served to raise awareness about a controversial military academy. Manuals that teach torture have been used to train Latin American soldiers at the U.S. Army's School of the Americas, according to an admission by the Department of Defense. Some graduates of the school have been linked to human rights violations, including the massacre of 900 men, women and children in a village in El Salvador in the 1980's. According to human rights groups, graduates of the School of the Americas continue to be linked to death squad activity, paramilitary operations, and repression. Last year, SOA graduates from Columbia were linked to the murders of 3 human rights activists and an armed assault on a Catholic human rights group. Since 1990, activists have been staging an annual vigil and protest at the gates of the school to commemorate the murders of 6 Jesuit priests and their two housekeepers in El Salvador on November 16, 1989 - deaths linked to SOA graduates. Rita Lucey, a 64 year-old grandmother from Florida was one of 22 protesters who served a six-month prison sentence for crossing onto the school grounds during the annual demonstration in 1997. A retired manager from a Fortune 500 company, she says she decided to risk arrest and engage in civil disobedience after she heard stories about SOA-sponsored repression, murder and violence from families she visited in Guatemala and El Salvador. Rita Lucey: In Guatemala, in a little town outside of Ravenal, I had to walk to a military base to get to this village. This village is comprised of people who were the survivors of the Rio Negro massacre. And as you walk through this military area, you see the monument to the people who were killed by School of the Americas graduates during a time of trials there. And then you walk to this small village, a very poor, poor village. And I had dinner with the families there, as I listened to the stories of the men and woman. And there were so many stories. Yes, I knew that even then, it was time to speak out and tell the story, before I went to prison. To say, "Yes, I have met these survivors who tell me of the victims, of their families, of the corpses of the children, whose heads were beat against the walls. Of the massive graves and watching the bones removed from these graves. Of walking through the villages and seeing the coffins being built. I just will never be the same. This has been a year of learning. Phillip Babich: Last year more than 5,000 demonstrators delivered over one million signatures from around the country calling for the school's closure. Over 2,000 people risked arrested by crossing onto School of the Americas property -- a felony. Sister Meagan Rice, a 68 year-old nun with Sisters of the Holy Child, also spent 6 months in prison after "crossing the line" in 1997. Sister Meagan Rice: I believe that laws are made for people, not people for the law. And any law is only valid when it is serving people. So, I don’t consider it a just law. We have every right to be on this base. It’s an open base. We had every right to speak and had every right to bring our petitions right in to the School of the Americas. Rita Lucey: I really believe that, as a citizen of this United States, I have First Amendment rights and those rights include the right to assembly, the right to free speech - just so many of those rights that have been usurped in this confrontation with the military. Phillip Babich: Rita Lucey speaking with Making Contact's Peggy Law during the 1998 annual protest at Ft. Benning. Rita Lucey: We are saying, "Government, pay attention to us. We are the conscience of this country. And you are telling us we cannot resist, we cannot disagree with you without going to prison, without being arrested? So be it." Peggy Law: So, you spent your six month in prison... What was that like for you personally? Rita Lucey: It was much more difficult than I thought it was going to be. And I remember one morning - perhaps this encapsulates it without giving all the details - one morning, as I sat at breakfast at 6 a.m., I said, "I will never give anyone this power over me again." That had been a particularly difficult week when power had been exercised over me, much to my disgust, and I had had sanctions leveled against me, as not being permitted to call my family for two weeks. And this kind of targeting continued for a period of about two months. So, yes, I don’t want anybody to have that much control of who I am, nor do I want them to have that much control of who these sister inmates are, who committed...who made mistakes. Who are first-time, non-violent offenders, yet whom we imprison and who we denigrate as human beings - just as women in all these Latin American countries, whose human rights and whose dignity as persons is taken away from them. We do the same thing in this country. Phillip Babich: Ann Tiffany, a retired nurse from Syracuse, New York, says that utilizing civil disobedience has energized the anti-School of the Americas movement. She, too, served 6 months in federal prison after being arrested at the 1997 demonstration. Ann Tiffany: We have grown tremendously in the last four years, and I think it’s because the commitment of people that have, in fact, put their bodies where there words are. We speak truth to power, we need to speak that through our actions. Peggy Law: What do you say to those people who say, "Well, because we live in a democracy, you may express your wishes, you may send the signatures in some other way, but you chose to break a law?" Ann Tiffany: I also talk about all the things that I have done prior to breaking that law. I have lobbied in Congress, for the first time in my life. I’ve also collected petitions. I have spoken in churches, in schools, civic groups, and one gets tired of trying everything you can and not seeing people move. And not seeing the movement grab hold, in a really heartfelt way, an emotional way. And for me, this is a very emotional issue. I have had, now, six trips to Central America. When I’ve gone to Central America, and I hear the stories of the people there, it touches my heart. It puts a face on the repression. The disappearance, the death of people there. When someone is telling you a story of watching family members die, it reaches into one’s heart. How to bring that truth back to the United States has always been a problem. And so, by putting my body where I feel it speaks the very strongest language that it can, makes a difference. Phillip Babich: During the 1970s, an era known as the Hot Autumn took place in Italy, where workers demanding safe work environments and fair wages were frustrated with their bosses and were finding no luck with their union representation. They decided to stage wildcat strikes, shutdowns that weren't approved by the union that might involve strikers stopping work at a certain time of day depending on their last name. Similar strikes have taken place throughout the United States in coal mines and in the auto industry. Jerome Scott is director of the popular education organization Project South in Atlanta, Georgia. He organized a wildcat strike in Detroit in 1973 at the forge Chrysler plant where he worked. He spoke with us from his office in Atlanta about the strike and how civil disobedience can serve as an organizing tool for movement building. Jerome Scott: My very first experience with civil disobedience was going on a wildcat strike at the Detroit forge Chrysler plant. And we decided to do that wildcat strike because health and safety issues inside the plant had really gotten out of hand. I mean, we had had discussion after discussion, and complaint after complaint, grievances after grievances about people getting hurt on the job, and how a lot of these injuries were totally unnecessary. And so, we had three shift meetings (it was a three-shift plant), and the workers said, "Look, we got to do something about this. You know, we’re getting hurt and maimed." And so we decided the thing to do was to shut down the plant. And that was a serious civil disobedience, because not only was it against the Chrysler Corporation, but it was also against the UAW, because it was a strike without their sanction. And, yes, I think that’s a very important decision, but there are times when there’s nothing else you can do, except take to the streets. And people began to listen little bit harder. Once they see that you have the strength to organize enough workers to shut down the entire plant, they look at you and talk to you totally different. The same thing is true here in the South. There are many times in which civil disobedience is necessary. I’d rather talk about some issues that I think are going to cause some civil disobedience in this period of time. And the main one that comes to mind is police brutality. I mean, these are police shootings and police killings just about every day, in some city in this country. The police is just rampant and no one is speaking up against this in any kind of mass voice. And I think it’s because they feel there’s nobody organized to demand an end to this police violence and police murders and police brutality and the sticking away of our children in jail. So, I think this is an issue that we can look forward to some more civil disobedience. Phillip Babich: Maybe you can talk about that - what that would do as far as movement building goes? - Making that commitment to engage in civil disobedience, blocked doorways, work stoppages, risking arrest, getting arrested. What does that do, as far as energizing a movement? Jerome Scott: Well, once you have an issue that is as explosive as police brutality and once people begin to get organized in a mass sort of way. Where people realize that this issue is hitting home with a number of communities, in a number of different stratas of American society, it automatically ignites other communities to want to respond as well. Because, it’s like I said before, you make that civil disobedience, you’re going get some responses from the people who control your county, your city, or your state. You know, and the responses are going to be different. They’re going to want to compromise or they’re going to say they’ll do something different about the issue, once they see that a mass of people is in the street about this issue. Then, what that does is ignite other communities, who say, "If they can get their community to respond to them, we can get our community to respond to us." Phillip Babich: I want us to follow up on your action at the Chrysler plant in the late ‘60s. What was the result of that? Jerome Scott: Well, the result of that was that the workers began to get more input into health and safety issues. Blacks began to get more openings into skilled trades jobs. And the union began to hire and promote more blacks in that same period. It was 1973 and it was a real strike wave in Detroit that year. There were three wildcat strikes that summer. So, yeah, on the one hand, we got a lot of response from the workers. on the other hand; twelve of us were fired for being leaders of the wildcat strike and three of us never got back in the plants again. We were actually blackballed from the plants. Phillip Babich: You were one of the three, then? Jerome Scott: Yes, I was one of the three of those. Phillip Babich: Now, I wonder if you could talk about the involvement of the law enforcement officials in civil disobedience actions, particularly when the civil disobedience is directed at private interests such as the Chrysler plant that you were involved in. There’s the Detroit News strike, when police were pepper-spraying workers who weren’t allowing workers to deliver the papers. Maybe you could speak to the role of the police in preventing or stifling civil disobedience when it’s directed at these private interests. Jerome Scott: Well, that’s their job. I mean, the police is an extension of the State. And the State’s job is to protect private property. And so they’re going to be on the side of the corporations in every civil disobedience act. You know, I say, "That’s their job," and they say, "To serve and protect." What they really mean is "to serve the corporations and protect private property." Particularly when that private property belongs to multinational corporations. So yes, you can expect that the police is going to be on the opposite side of the people. Phillip Babich: I wonder then, if you could address this issue - sometimes outsiders, perhaps the public at large - maybe that’s too much of a generalization - they see civil disobedience actions, they see some screaming, they see people getting arrested and dragged off and they raise the question, "Why did they, the demonstrators, have to do that? People would be much more compelled to listen to their point if they weren’t shouting and getting arrested, etc.?" I’m sure you’ve heard this too. What’s your response to a question like that? Jerome Scott: Oh, I’ve heard it many times. Usually, when a person says that first of all they don’t know what we’ve already previously done to get the ear of the authorities. And I would try to explain to them that this is not our first attempt to get the ear. I think it’s necessary to go through a process of trying to get your point across, trying to get the actions that you need, to take place. And to do it through negotiations, do it through compromising, do it through every avenue that you have available to you. But, when you get no results - in most cases, we didn’t, prior to doing civil disobedience - then that’s what you’re left with. Doing some civil disobedience. Phillip Babich: I wonder if you can give us sort of your historical perspective on what’s going on now, in 1999, with regards to movement building and progressive movement. Jerome Scott: Well, first of all, I think the stage that we’re in, in terms of movement building, is a stage of consolidating our organizations, building up our relationships between all the various organizations that are out there around the all the various issues, and educating ourselves, particularly around the difference between 1999 and, say, 1963. Then begin to figure out our strategy. But, we’re in a stage of organizational building and educating ourselves. That’s the stage we’re in right now. And I think that what happens is that, as the movement slowly builds, you’ll see struggles popping up here and popping up there, civil disobedience popping up here and there. Then something happens and there’s a leap in the movement process, when people’s consciousness gets to that critical mass. Phillip Babich: Do you think that we’re due, then, for a convergence of many movements, as we saw in the ‘60s and the early ‘70s with the anti-war-in-Vietnam movement? Jerome Scott: I think we are, yes. And I can give you some of the issues that I think are going to be converging. One of course is this whole questions around the prison industrial complex and the police brutality and violence. That’s an issue that’s going to be converging. This whole question about education - if you look at our schools and the multitude of issue within education. But, the main thing is that our children are not being educated and prepared for this vastly different world. And I think that issue is going to break out any moment now. And then the last issue is this whole issue of poverty. We’re supposed to be in this great expansion; our economy is supposed to be better than ever before in peacetime. And yet, we look around and we see more and more homeless people, more and more homeless families, more and more people having to work two and three jobs to feed their families. And I think those three issues, poverty and homelessness, the issue of education, and the issue of police brutality are going to be some of the leading issues that are going to converge into this next wave of a strong movement. Phillip Babich: Great. We’ve been speaking with Jerome Scott. He’s the director of Project South in Atlanta, Georgia. Jerome Scott, thanks so much for joining us in Making Contact. Jerome Scott: Thanks for having me. Phillip Babich: That's it for this edition of Making Contact, a look at civil disobedience and social change. Thanks for listening. And, special thanks to Leon Janssen and Heather Gray for recorded portions. Stephanie Welch and Courtney Malone provided production assistance. Laura Livoti is our managing director. Peggy Law is executive director. Our production assistant is Shereen Meraji. Norman Solomon is senior advisor. Our national producer is David Barsamian. And I'm your host and managing producer Phillip Babich. If you want more information about the subject of this week’s program, call the National Radio Project at 800-529-5736. Call that same phone number for tapes and transcripts. Making Contact is an independent production. We’re committed to providing a forum for voices and opinions not often heard in the mass media. If you have suggestions for future programs, we’d like to hear from you. Our theme music is by the Charlie Hunter Trio. ‘Bye for now. |