The Militant - August 1, 2005 -- Workers in Canada back Militant Fighting Fund

Vol. 69/No. 29 August 1, 2005

Workers in Canada back Militant Fighting Fund

C.W. Mining, owners of the Co-Op mine in Huntington, Utah, has filed a harassment lawsuit targeting individuals and union organizations involved in or supporting the fight of the workers there to organize into the United Mine Workers union. The charges include unfair labor practices, defamation, and civil conspiracy. Among those being sued for defaming C.W. Mining are three newspapers—the Militant and Salt Lake City’s main dailies, the Tribune and Deseret Morning News—that have covered the union struggle at the mine.

The Militant Fighting Fund was launched to help defend the Militant, a prominent target in this labor defense case. Below are reports on how support is building. Endorsements and contributions to the Militant Fighting Fund $60,000 campaign can be sent to P.O. Box 520994, Salt Lake City, UT 84152.

BY BEVERLY BERNARDO
TORONTO—“The Militant must be commended for its unrelenting support of the Co-Op Miners,” said Gordon Flett, a shop steward for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union in Vancouver, British Columbia, explaining why he has endorsed the Militant Fighting Fund and is urging other workers to do so.

Support for the defense campaign has also been won among unionists at the Quality Meat Packers (QMP) plant here. John Steele, who works at the plant, reports that many other workers there are familiar with the Militant. The paper carried regular coverage about last year’s strike against QMP by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 175.

Sammy Caetano, UFCW Local 175 plant chairperson and a recent endorser of the Militant Fighting Fund, said the miners and their supporters must be defended because “it’s important to have unions in the workforce to have safe working conditions and…for the employees to have power at the bargaining table to get a better standard of life.”

Kolar Zeljko, a boning-room butcher at the plant, lent his support because, he said, “papers should be able to report the facts about our struggles.” So far Can$140 has been raised from Local 175 members (Can$1=US 82 cents).

Lenora Jones, president of UNITE HERE Local 437 and a former Militant subscriber, signed on after discussions with supporters of the Militant who sell the paper weekly at AK Knitting, where she works.

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BY FRANK FORRESTAL
LOS ANGELES—Donald Bray, emeritus professor of political science from California State University in Los Angeles (CSULA), and Marjorie Bray, director of Latin American Studies (LAS) at CSULA, endorsed the Militant Fighting Fund and gave a financial donation this week. Both are well-known academic figures here. Last year, LAS helped organize a shipment of food for the Co-Op miners.

Walter Flores, a port truck driver in Los Angeles, also endorsed the campaign. He has closely followed the fight for a union at the Co-Op mine. “This is what we are trying to do at the ports,” he said. The port drivers, almost all born in Mexico or Central America, are in a see-saw battle to organize more than 10,000 drivers who carry shipments to and from the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports. Flores took a pile of brochures and said he would talk to other drivers about supporting the case.

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The following is an excerpt of a message to the Militant from Moisés Mory, president of United Steelworkers Local 13742 at Foamex International in New Jersey. He has been in jail fighting deportation since May 2004.

“You have to continue to fight tirelessly until the victory is complete, and then continue supporting the coal miners so they are able to organize their union defending the rights of workers. I give my complete moral support to the Militant, Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret Morning News, Socialist Workers Party, and United Mine Workers of America. I hope you reach the projected fund-raising goal of $60,000 to continue this fight.”

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