Unions to Demand 'Free the Charleston 5!' at Meeting Wednesday

    CLEVELAND, Aug. 21 Cleveland area unions have called a
public meeting Wednesday night, August 22, 2001 to demand protection for
workers' right to picket and the dismissal of felony charges against five
Charleston, South Carolina dock workers.  The principal speaker will be Ken
Riley, President of International Longshoremen's Association, Local 1422 in
Charleston.  The Local is more than 98% African-American.
    The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 7:00 PM at SEIU
Local 47, 1735 East 23 Street.  Media are welcome to attend.
    In a joint statement announcing the meeting, John Ryan, Executive
Secretary, Cleveland AFL-CIO, and Warren Davis, Director, Region 2, UAW, said:
"This case involves the fundamental right of workers to picket and assemble.
When dock workers were attempting to exercise those rights in Charleston on
January 20, 2000, they were suddenly attacked by 600 riot-equipped state
police.  Now, five of the workers face trumped-up 'inciting to riot' charges
and are threatened with five years in prison.  We join the national AFL-CIO
and Julian Bond, Chairman of the NAACP, in demanding that the charges against
these workers be dismissed."
    This case has attracted wide public interest (see front page of the Wall
Street Journal's August 14, 2001 issue commenting on the case in the "Work
Week" column).

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