In January of 2000, 150 members of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1422 held a picket to protest the use of non-union labor on the Charleston docks by a small shipping line. Due to South Carolina's strong anti-union sentiment, law enforcement agencies across the state mobilized over 600 heavily armed riot police who attacked picketing workers and attempted to break the Union.
This attack on the rights of the majority Black ILA Local 1422 escalated until ultimately 5 ILA members were brought up on felony rioting charges. What followed was a historic and global movement inspired by solidarity, as ports and workers around the world rallied to free these men and defend the hard-fought rights of organized labor in South Carolina.
The Fight to Free the Charleston 5 illustrates the power of working-class solidarity and organization, even in the Southern United States. With the recent attacks by the current Gov. of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, on workers and their unions, the lessons of this struggle are as pertinent now as they were 20 years ago.
The Charleston Alliance for Fair Employment, the Charleston Worker Center, and ILA Local 1422 invite the Charleston community to remember and celebrate the power of working people with a free screening of the short documentary The Fight to Free the Charleston 5. The film will be followed by a Q&A with those who were there.
The event will begin at 7 pm on March 29th at ILA Local 1422 (1142 Morrison Drive) in downtown Charleston.
