Hundreds of SF Bay Area unionists to hold huge rally Monday for port workers beaten by police
Labor Desk
October 04, 2008
Hundreds of unionists, supporters expected to rally Monday at trial of black port workers beaten, arrested as they returned to work from lunch at Port of Sacramento.
WOODLAND, Ca. – Bay Area and Valley port workers – who are charging there is a "war of terror" being waged against them – will hold a major rally here Monday to support two African American port workers beaten by West Sacramento police last year at the Port of Sacramento as the workers were heading back to work after lunch.
The rally, endorsed by ACLU chapters in Sacramento and Yolo counties and unions along the entire West Coast, will be held MONDAY, 8:30 a.m. at the Yolo County Courthouse (725 Court Street).
Hundreds of port workers, and supporters from Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland and Stockton are expected to attend the rally and pack the courtroom.
The trial of Jason Ruffin and Aaron Harrison, members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, begins at 9 a.m. Monday. They are being charged with "resisting arrest." The underlying charge of "trespassing" has already been tossed.
The two were returning to work after lunch at the Port of Sacramento in August of 2007 when they were accosted by port security. West Sacramento police then brutalized and arrested the two workers, according to the ILWU..
ILWU workers said the attacks on Ruffin and Harrison are part of a campaign to repress port workers and the trade union movement. They are demanding the resisting arrest charges be dismissed.
WOODLAND, Ca. – Bay Area and Valley port workers – who are charging there is a "war of terror" being waged against them – will hold a major rally here Monday to support two African American port workers beaten by West Sacramento police last year at the Port of Sacramento as the workers were heading back to work after lunch.
The rally, endorsed by ACLU chapters in Sacramento and Yolo counties and unions along the entire West Coast, will be held MONDAY, 8:30 a.m. at the Yolo County Courthouse (725 Court Street).
Hundreds of port workers, and supporters from Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland and Stockton are expected to attend the rally and pack the courtroom.
The trial of Jason Ruffin and Aaron Harrison, members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, begins at 9 a.m. Monday. They are being charged with "resisting arrest." The underlying charge of "trespassing" has already been tossed.
The two were returning to work after lunch at the Port of Sacramento in August of 2007 when they were accosted by port security. West Sacramento police then brutalized and arrested the two workers, according to the ILWU..
ILWU workers said the attacks on Ruffin and Harrison are part of a campaign to repress port workers and the trade union movement. They are demanding the resisting arrest charges be dismissed.
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