ILWU Local 10 Secretary Treasurer Clarence Thomas was invited to speak at the Peoples Conference On Palestine In Detroit on May 24, 25, 26. He prepared a tape of his presentation about the role of the ILWU10 and the struggle for Palestine. The panel was titled the Role Of Labor Unions and Palestinian Struggle.
Transcript
[Music] on May 23rd
0:082024 I Clarence Thomas was interviewed by Brother Hussein Karimi one of the
0:13organizers of the successful people’s conference for Palestine which was held
0:19May 24th through the 26 in Detroit Michigan the interview was intended to
0:25produce a video statement to be aired during a labor for Palestine workshop at
0:31the conference an edited statement was finalized and submitted the presentation was not shown
0:38as plan due to an unexpected Palestinian guest who is a member of the Palestinian
0:47General Federation of trade unions who made an unexpected visit and the entire
0:52program was a gested to accommodate their speaking it was disappointing
0:58especially in view of ilw local ‘s important Palestinian solidarity actions
1:05taken going on nearly two decades here’s the edited version of the
1:11interview in its entirety it was thought that it was very timely to have Labor voice heard during
1:20the continuing genocidal assault upon the Palestinian population in Gaza by
1:26the Israeli military aided by the US military-industrial
1:32complex during the 39th ilw convention this past June local 10 submitted a
1:40resolution calling for long show workers to refuse to handle military cargo to
1:46Israel the union has taken such actions against military hunters in Chile and in
1:52El Salvador the resolution was resoundingly
1:58defeated on July 2nd 2024 12 US government employees who
2:06publicly resigned in protests of Brighton’s administration’s gaza’s
2:11policy issued a joint statement titled service and descent condemning The Continuous Flow
2:18of us arms to Israel and
2:24more peace is Union business I repeat
2:30peace is Union business permanent ceasefire now free
2:36free Palestine well thanks Clarence for for joining us you know the panel name
2:43is the role of labor unions in the Palestinian struggle uh local 10 of
2:49course has a rich history of solidarity with working people not just in the
2:55United States but across the world um and a rich history of internationalism
3:01uh we hope today that you can speak to uh the IL Wu’s history of
3:07internationalism as a union and popularizing it in the labor movement r
3:12large uh around the issues uh of you know South the back um in the struggle
3:20against South African apartheid to now around palestin first of all I’d like to
3:26extend solidarity greetings to the people that are attend ing the people’s
3:31conference on Palestine in Detroit Michigan uh it’s an honor to be a part
3:36of the program my name is Clarence Thomas I am a third generation retired
3:43long shoran member of the international Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10
3:48in San Francisco uh I’d like to read something in order to give some uh context as to
3:56why I’m here today uh the the ILWU has the long
4:01history of being interested in and supportive of Palestine Liberation going
4:07back as early as the mid 1980s and this was the direct result of
4:14ilw having a longer history of solidarity with the people in South
4:19Africa fighting against a partti but in order to be start at the
4:25beginning the history of the ILWU the record of its Origins and
4:31traditions is about workers who build a union that is democratic militant and
4:37dedicated to the idea that solidarity with other unions and other workers is
4:44the key to achieving Economic Security and a peaceful
4:49world and so when you begin to say well what does that mean what it
4:58means is is that our Union is Anti-Imperialist
5:05anti-colonialist we uh have fought against white supremacy I like to say that we have
5:12demonstrated our support for the working class and the oppress at home and
5:18abroad very quickly the ILWU has been involved with actions at
5:25the point of production which means where we work Longshore workers on the
5:31west coast ilw members are responsible for the loading and unloading of
5:36Maritime cargo on the west coast and local 10 is the only predominantly
5:43africanamerican local on the west coast which is also the home local of the
5:51legendary ILWU founder Harry
5:57Bridges going back to to 1935 after Italy had invaded
6:06Ethiopia the ILWU was in the process of
6:12uh loading nickel and other metals for E for um uh Italy and there
6:20were a number of people from the community who were protesting this act
6:26of imperialism on the part of of the uh Italian government musolini was in power
6:33at that time and they came out and they had a what I would call a
6:38blockade and they picketed in front of that that particular uh terminal where
6:43this work was going on and ILWU members did not cross that picket line because
6:50one of our 10 guiding principles calls for us respecting all picket lines as if
6:56they were our own fast forward in 1939 After Japan had invaded
7:05Manchuria we were in the process of uh loading scrap iron to
7:12Japan another blockade took place but this time our own leadership in Harry
7:19Bridges said we’re not going to send this particular uh cargo to South to uh
7:28to Japan because it could very well likely be used on American GIS should the United
7:36States get involved with the AES of evil in Asia and so it
7:43was long show workers did not cross that picking line and there were consequences
7:49as a result of those actions President Franklin Delano
7:54Roosevelt sent a letter and scolded Harry ridges and said that the ilw
8:01needed to stay out of matters involving US foreign policy and bridges was
8:06position was that it was our right as Citizens to do such things and that is
8:11the reason why we have been called the conscience of the labor movement
8:18ILWU specifically local 10 where my grandfather came into the Union in 1944
8:24and my dad in 1965 this is a union that is taking positions on the matter of all forms of
8:33discrimination Bri said that discrimination was a tool of the bosses the internationalism comes into
8:40play because of what long show workers do the loading and unloading of Maritime
8:46cargo cargo from all over the world in
8:521962 on a Sunday there were a group of community people that had come out to
8:59protest T South Africa long show workers once again did
9:04not cross that ticket line the ilw had taken positions against
9:10apartheid but it was pretty much symbolic but all of that changed in
9:171976 when a black long show worker by the name of Leo Robinson wrote a
9:23resolution subsequent to the uh Soo massacres in 1976 six where
9:30he called for the boycott of South African cargo by the ilw this was a very very
9:38bold uh and uh compelling resolution and one of the one of the
9:45marks of our democracy is that an individual like Leo Robinson who was a
9:51rank and filer wrote that resolution and it permeated all the way
9:57up to our Longshore uh convention in
10:04Coast I should say caucus which is the highest ruling body of our Longshore
10:11industry there were a number of activities that took place between
10:171976 culminating in 1984 when long show workers refused to handle South African
10:24cargo specifically at a vessel called the net Lloyd Kimberly for for 11 days
10:31in between that time there was an organization F founded called this the
10:37the southern Africa Liberation support committee the first time an organization of Labor had been established by ranking
10:44filers specifically for the purpose of fighting against the partai this action in with the fight
10:51against the partai took the shape of many many uh Endeavors the most the most
10:57demonstrative and radical of course it was the refusal to handle South African cargo it also meant that people who were
11:04members of thec came to speak at our Union Hall films were shown ranking fers
11:12wanted to know well why is it that we’re taking this action on the part of South Africa what does that have to do with
11:18our pork chops here meaning how is it related to the contract and workers those same entities
11:26in South Africa using the excuse that we’re
11:32trying to change things in terms of ending a partti by engaging and trying
11:38to influence the government all of that was a lie they were there to exploit black workers and so people got a sense
11:46of that but nothing could have explained it more to Long show workers than when
11:52Nelson Mandela was released from prison and spoke at the Oakland Coliseum and he
11:58acknowledged the ILWU specifically local 10 for refusing to unload South African cargo
12:07for 11 days and the only thing that ended that particular
12:12boycott we violated tartle we violated our own contract but when thousands of
12:19dollars in fines were going to be levied against the rank and file leadership of that strike as well as the
12:26officers that’s what ended it but Nelson Mandela received word about the the uh
12:33uh the boycott while he was on Robin Island and when he spoke to thousands
12:38who were uh onlookers and who were witness to that great event and he
12:44acknowledged the ilw local T because he as the world understood the importance
12:51of shipping shipping is the Mother’s Milk of
12:57capitalism and so when you just disrupt ships you interfere also with
13:04Trucking schedules rail schedules and it disrupts the international global
13:12economy not only did long show workers engage in that activity but they also
13:17engage in something that is very important to the Palestinian struggle at this time DDS boycott divestment and
13:26sanctions all of those things came in into play during the ilw struggle against the part we boycotted ships yes
13:35we also divested our Pension funds from companies that did business with South
13:42Africa former Congressman Ron Ron delum whose father was a member of ILWU Local
13:49tan and whose uncle was a starart in the labor movement for black folks he was
13:55when delum was Congress congressman representing the Bay Area he put forward
14:01legislation calling for sanctions they were B toed once by Ronald Reagan but the Congress overrode
14:08that beach we understood the importance of people being able to mobilize on all
14:16fronts I’m proud to say that I was one of the
14:21first ILWU members to be involved with the block
14:27thebat activ which took place in 2014 but it’s also important to mention
14:35that before 2014 happened in
14:412010 one of the first boycot boycotting of an Israeli
14:48shipping line one of the largest it’s called Zim Zim took place at the Port of
14:56Oakland and the reason why it took place was that it was in
15:01response to the massacre that was initiated by Israeli
15:07Commandos on the ma mamara it was a floella a Turkish floella on its way to
15:14Gaza carrying humanitarian supplies Israeli Commandos killed 10
15:22people with impunity on international waters and for the first time
15:29there was a picket line made up of Labor
15:34Palestinian activists social justice activists and most importantly the ILWU
15:43Local 10 which following in its tradition of
15:48not Crossing that picket line when some 800 members of the
15:54community showed up to protest those murders and the violence perpetuated
16:01against the Palestinian people in Gaza specifically that was in
16:0720110 but I am so proud that I had the opportunity to meet a sister and comrade
16:15of mine who many of you who are attending this conference today are familiar with her name is Lara kwani
16:24executive director of the Arab resources organizing Center
16:31we met because she wanted to meet the ILWU Local 10 leadership for the purpose
16:38of explaining to that leadership how they wanted the support of the
16:46ILWU in the same fashion that the locals supported the anti-ar
16:52strug I was a part of that great day in August 2014 when thousands marched at the Port
17:00of Oakland in order to meet and to
17:06stop the disembarkment or the unloading of cargo on a zim
17:12vessel in order to stop or to undermine or
17:20mitigate the political victory of the community that had called made the call
17:27and had people to come out out for the demonstration at the Port of
17:35Oakland Zim decided to Rondevu in the montere bay until the following day trying to
17:44not give that Victory to the community it had to finally come
17:50in but what was specifically designated to have a on day
17:57action turned into to a 4-day affair it was
18:04absolutely gratifying for so many of our younger members to be able to connect
18:12the dots from what happened in the 1970s and the
18:171980s to 2014 brother Leo Robinson and
18:25others was so successful in making the connection between the treatment of
18:31black people in South Africa and the treatment of Palestinians by the
18:39Israelis specifically through Zionism so the ILWU was able to talk and
18:47to gain support for Resolutions going back to the 1980s at our
18:55conventions and they were also able to reaffirm that in the
19:001990s brother Leo Robinson was the first ILWU member to write a position paper on
19:07the importance of the ILWU in the world recognizing the leadership of the PLO as
19:14a legitimate leadership of the Palestinian
19:20people today I’m wearing a t-shirt along with my keep underneath that is a t-shirt of
19:28people who who were members of the Black Panther Party I thought it was appropriate to wear this shirt because
19:34in the 1970s huie P Newton met chairman yasa
19:41araban they met and huie was able to make the connection between the
19:47Palestinian struggle and the struggle of African people throughout the world it
19:52was very important we have to learn from those lessons but just let me say this in
19:59terms of why you’re asking me to be on this panel today the importance of Labor in this
20:08and the struggle for the liberation of Palestinian people ending the
20:14onslaught ending the mass murder and genocide on the part of the zionists
20:19with the backing of us imperialism and companies such as Ron Bo LED Martin
20:29all benefiting from the murder of women and children and innocent
20:36people in Gaza in the Palestinian
20:42territory labor needs to understand that support for the Palestinian struggle is
20:49a working class issue I understand that some of the
20:55unions today don’t have the rich and let’s face it radical tradition of the
21:02ILWU I understand that but they still need to understand that these are
21:08working class people and they should also be able to understand the importance of
21:14international solidarity we’re so backward in this country that we think that Mayday is a
21:21communist holiday while socialist countries do celebrate that day its origin started
21:28here in the United States of America for the struggle for the 8 hour work day but
21:35that history has been hidden from us and I’m proud to say that we and ilw local
21:41tener played a very important role in reclaiming that
21:46history which is why just this [Music]
21:52month we did not work Mayday as we have not worked it in the last 20 years
21:59two decades no work at the port for eight
22:04hours on the day side no work at the port on the night side for 24 hours in
22:12solidarity with the Palestinian struggle solidarity is not an empty
22:20slogan let me clarify that today the Zim
22:25lines does not come to the West Coast long show workers make their living
22:32loading and unloading vessels but I along with others are
22:38mindful that long show workers in Gaza they can’t work and haven’t worked in
22:45decades this is not all right we choose to believe in what’s
22:52right and not who’s right and what’s right for the American worker is to
22:57stand up when we stand up to support the Palestinians we are also helping
23:04ourselves it is our tax dollars that are going to commit these murders and these
23:11atrocities monies that could be spent on Health Care here monies that could be
23:17spent on education I was recently in Cuba just a few weeks
23:23ago but the blockade and and them being put on the uh the state sponsor of
23:29terrorism they have one of the finest medical schools in the world they even
23:34have American students going there for free but yet our students have to pay
23:40hundreds of thousands of dollars to come out I’m bringing all this up because of the fact that we could have a better
23:47system we can have we can participate in the liberation of Gaza at the same time
23:54while we are also creating the emancipation of the working class for our our eles this is in our interest
24:02which is why I have to say something with regards to what’s going on with the students all across the United States of
24:09America I am so proud of what they are doing it reminds me so much of my days
24:15when I was at San Francisco State and was part of the longest student strike in American history for the estab
24:22establishment of a black studies in a school of ethnic studies and open enrollment to increase the number of
24:27working class and black students that that struggle went on for four and a half months and as I stand today reading
24:36every day how students are being attacked by the police the same where we
24:41were in 1968 by the tax Squad in San Francisco how we were being attacked by
24:47Ronald Reagan who was the governor at that time how we were being attacked by various right-wing forces and young
24:55people today are seeing it themselves we have to ask ourselves why is it that
25:01young people seem to be so uh inclined to understand the
25:07struggle I think I have an answer for that young people today see the
25:13contradictions of capitalism they see that once they graduate from college they still are not
25:20guaranteed the job they understand that even if they do get jobs they may have
25:25to take job that they don’t want to work California State University Long Beach
25:34is really has been hijacked by the boing company boing think that that’s their
25:41private uh Plantation so that they can train people to go into being complicit
25:49in the murders of people in Gaza they’ve hijacked public education
25:56corporations the military indust conflex these young people are putting
26:01their academic careers on the line because they understand they cannot sit
26:08idly by and watch this genocide take place and they’ve also learned the
26:14lessons of boycott divestment and
26:19sanctions they work the Israeli government is very
26:25concerned about BDS after we took action against Zim in
26:322010 something very interesting took place the Israeli consulate wanted to
26:39come to speak to our executive board to tell us the error of our
26:45ways we said hell no we don’t speak to the Israeli
26:51government our actions speak for themselves it is they understand
26:58understand the lessons of the anti-ar struggle very
27:03clearly very clearly so I think the inspiration that
27:09lab the labor movement needs to take from young people today who are
27:15demonstrating some CL some uh commencement exercises that been cancelled students have been
27:22brutalized at UCLA the State and the city has turned a
27:29blind eye to the zionists and the neo-nazis who attacked UCLA students
27:36when no one has been arrested we have to be on the right side
27:43of History I’m going to close with this we have a resolution that’s going
27:49before I say we meaning the ILWU I’m retired but I still have a
27:56voice in the union I gu can’t vote but there’s a resolution that’s going before
28:02the convention which starts on the 17th of June and it’s calling
28:10for ILWU members to refuse to handle
28:16military cargo destined for Israel this is not
28:23the first time that we’ve done this we’ve done it in the 1970s
28:28when the hunter in and El Salvador and more specifically the actions taken on
28:34the part of uh the government in Chile with the after the
28:40assassination of Salvador yend long show workers in local 10
28:47refused to ship bum parts parts and other
28:53equipment connected to military cargo to the state of
28:59Chile we’ve done this before I can’t say how the delegates are
29:06going to vote we’re hoping that they will do the
29:12right thing we know that people are very much
29:17concerned about genocide but we also understand that the
29:22United States government and it’s
29:28genocide committed against the Native Americans the enslavement of
29:36African-Americans the enslavement of the American worker their anti-union history all of
29:44this is related this is why that rightwing doesn’t want the real history to be
29:50taught in schools but it’s so important so important at this time for
29:58us to step forward and to make a sacrifice solidarity is not an empty
30:06slogan it means that you have to give something up I have not heard one long
30:11show worker complain about losing work as a result
30:17of supporting Palestinians and the Z ship I have not heard one person complain about that because they
30:25understand that that was their opportunity to make a contribution to the struggle and other workers must step
30:32up and do the same thing yes this is a very momentous time and a
30:38very critical part of our history labor has a very important role
30:44to play and it all starts with ranking fers of
30:50conscience coming forward writing resolution it starts with resolutions
30:55they should not be afraid these are our tax dollars these are our sisters and
31:01brothers who being killed in broad daylight with the help of our tax
31:07dollars and our government that does not represent us by standing up and
31:13supporting the Palestinians we are standing up and supporting ourselves for
31:18what kind of a future do we want a country that does not invest in its
31:24youth has no future and I’m glad to see these young people setting the
31:31example I would just like to say one thing before I close out today I hope that one of the things that
31:39transpires at the conclusion of this conference is that people will look at
31:45the ILWU Local 10 in particular as being a
31:53symbol and a Guiding Light for others to follow
31:58we’ve taken many many radical positions and have paid a price for that but part
32:06of what has given local 10 its revolutionary character yes I say
32:12revolutionary why do I say that because shipping is so critical to the global
32:20economy and the world knows that and when we have long show workers in other
32:26parts of the United States of America and the world standing up and refusing to handle
32:35military cargo or any cargo that is facilitating the murder and genocide against our
32:42Palestinian sisters and brothers we need to step up and step
32:49forward there may be some things that I missed today but I’m certain uh if
32:54there’s anything you want to add brother Hussein I’m glad that that you have made this possible for me to be a part of
33:01this great conference today it’s very important the guys of the world are on
33:08all of us in particular labor and labor has to understand that that Joe Biden
33:17and I’m gonna call him what he is genocide Joe he can’t serve two masters his
33:26master is the ruling class the military industrial complex I don’t care how many
33:34billions of dollars that he uh reduces in student
33:40loans I don’t care these these empty gestures of uh I’m gonna hold up uh
33:46sending these bombs that’s a bunch of BS he’s
33:52committed to us imperialism and Zionism and we have to understand that
33:58he is not on our side I don’t care what he says we need to be on the side of the
34:05workers we need to be on the side of the oppressed we need to be on our side and
34:12I would conclude by saying free free Palestine let Gaza be
34:17[Music] free from Ferguson to Palestine occupation is a
34:24crime and we have a slogan long associated with the i W it started with the wobblies the international workers
34:31of the world it goes like this an injury to one is an injury to all an injury to
34:37one is an injury to all free free Palestine thank you
