Demonstration against Xenophobia in South Africa

Photos by Tracy Dyan @ indymedia South Africa of a demonstration on Sunday in Johannesburg.
Médecins Sans Frontière responds to outbreaks of violence in Johannesburg, Sunday, May. 25, 2008 at 11:12 AM

In response to recent outbreaks of violence in Johannesburg, South Africa, MSF is currently providing emergency medical care for wounded people seeking shelter in police stations, community halls, and other locations to which they have fled for safety.
May 22, 2008 Since December 2007, MSF teams have been providing medical assistance to vulnerable Zimbabweans seeking refuge in South Africa. Following the recent outbreak of violence, mobile teams were swiftly organized to respond to the current situation, providing emergency medical care. Photos by Tracy Dyan.
The violence, which is being aimed primarily at foreign nationals from neighboring countries, first erupted in Alexandra township on Sunday, May 11, and has since spread to several other townships, reaching central Johannesburg at the weekend. MSF has sent mobile teams to a total of 15 locations, where there have been outbreaks of violence. “We have been treating gunshot wounds, head traumas, wounds resulting from beatings, lacerations, burns and other violence-related injuries,” said Dr. Eric Goemaere, MSF medical coordinator in South Africa.

The violence has led to displacement and extreme vulnerability, particularly amongst women, children, and Zimbabweans who are denied refugee status in South Africa. MSF estimates that there are at least 13,000 displaced people only at the locations the teams assessed across Johannesburg. MSF mobile teams have treated more than 600 patients, most of them with violence-related injuries. Still, the MSF team has been unable to access the epicenter of the violent attacks and is concerned that the most acute needs are going unmet.

While a small number of local organizations, particularly the South African Red Cross, are mobilizing to respond to the basic needs of the displaced for shelter, food, and sanitation, they are being stretched to the limit. In some places of refuge, there are as many as 1,500 people sleeping, sometimes outside in tents or in the open, where they are vulnerable to further attacks. “People have told us they don’t feel safe in these sites and our teams have witnessed acts of intimidation and attempts of violence,” said Rachel Cohen, MSF head of mission in South Africa. “They require adequate and organized protection and assistance from national authorities and relevant international actors.”

MSF is deeply concerned about the current situation and protection of displaced migrants and refugees in Johannesburg who fear for their lives and have nowhere to turn in the midst of a rapidly deteriorating crisis. MSF has been working in central Johannesburg since December 2007 to provide Zimbabweans seeking refuge at the Central Methodist Church and surrounding areas with access to medical care. MSF also works in Musina, at the border with Zimbabwe in Limpopo Province, providing primary health care on commercial farms and in Musina township.

Mobilizing to Stop Privatization of Union Square

Paul Robeson Singing at Union Square

The Church of Stop Shopping has been holding rallies at Union Square to draw attention to the proposed privatization of the North End of the park, which includes a historic pavilion where thousands have gathered over the years to defend the eight hour work day, to protest police brutality, to protest war in Iraq and many other noble causes.

The following is an excerpt from Reverend Billy's Sermon:
The Pavilion on the north plaza of this park is our Temple of Free Speech, a stage where our American conscience came out in the songs of Paul Robeson, Emma Goldman’s shouts and the prayers of Dorothy Day… Passionate crowds surged before that reviewing stand in the tens of thousands. The first Labor Day took place here in 1882. The 8-hour day was born in The Pavilion of Union Square.The ghosts of George Washington and Paul Robeson haunt the construction site at Union Square.
Corporations are privatizing the Pavilion, like so much of our commons in New York City and in the United States. The pattern is always the same. First they under-funded our park, pushed aside the public money for improvements, and then here come the millionaires posing as our saviors. In fact, they are dealing themselves a Tavern on the Green South, pushing around the greenmarket, cutting down old trees, and ending the day-care that was there – but wait a minute. The Pavilion? A gentrified watering hole?
It is our Temple of Free Speech. Our progressive history still lives here. The Americans seeking justice and Peace can still be heard marching and rallying. They are our heroes and teachers. Our children need to know of their courage. And we ourselves must now have the courage they showed then. We will defend Union Square with the part of ourselves that still has a conscience. Amen!Savitri D, as Emma Goldman, speaks at an action to save Union Square. The ghosts of past leaders who have spoken in that location line the construction fence: including, Dorothy Day, Norman Thomas, Lucy Parsons, etc.

To keep the area of Union Square a public park, sign this petition.

Dock Workers Protest Iraq War

From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Dockworkers from Long Beach to Seattle defied their employers and an arbitrator's ruling and brought cargo operations to a standstill for eight hours Thursday in protest of the war in Iraq.
At least 6,000 workers represented by San Francisco's International Longshore and Warehouse Union did not report for work for the day shift, effectively shutting down 29 West Coast ports. Their president, Bob McEllrath, issued a statement that read, "We're supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it's time to end the war in Iraq."
A day earlier, an independent arbitrator sided with waterfront terminal operators and other employers who suspected a job action was in the works, and ruled that halting work would be a contract violation.
The ILWU was not dissuaded.
"It's important that these processes are in place and we respect them," ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees said of the ruling by arbitrator John Kagel. "We also have an obligation and are proud to respect the First Amendment rights our members have as citizens governed by the Constitution. This is a voluntary act of good citizenship to shake the tree in Washington, D.C., and get those folks to wake up and respect the overwhelming majority of Americans," who want to end the war, Merrilees said.
Thousand of people in goods distribution, including truckers and distribution center employees, were affected by the one-shift work stoppage, but it came on a relatively light day at the docks and it appeared that logistics planners worked around the action, which was long advertised. The evening shift Thursday began without interruption.
The ILWU's Longshore Caucus, the highest decision-making body of the union, overwhelmingly approved a resolution in February to request employers grant the union a "stop-work meeting" on May 1. The ILWU contract states that the union can use one shift per month to stop work and have a meeting to discuss union issues, and employers routinely grant those requests - but only for an evening shift, when there is less cargo to move.
The union wanted time off on the day shift, but the employers said it would be disruptive. On April 8, the union withdrew the daytime request but proceeded with the original plan for a stop-work meeting. According to evidence Kagel gathered, workers made it known that they would not be working on Thursday at several ports, including Tacoma, Seattle, Oakland, Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The action takes on another layer of significance because the ILWU and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents terminal operators, shipping companies and other employers, are involved in contract negotiations.
"It's of more concern to us because it signals something that is more sinister," said Steve Getzug, a spokesman for the Pacific Maritime Association, suggesting the union may employ slowdown or other disruptive tactics if the current contract expires July 1 without a new accord in place.
"The ILWU indicated to us months ago it was committed to good-faith negotiations and said the union was hopeful we could reach conclusion without disruption. We believe today's coordinated work action flies in the face of that," Getzug said.
Merrilees, of the ILWU, said companies "have known about this for more than a month, and most made plans to adjust accordingly. The impact was negligible, and even with the companies huffing and puffing, there will be very little impact when all is said and done."
The West Coast ports, and in particular the major facilities at Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland, on an average day move 10,000 cargo containers, loading and unloading ships. The workload is greater in the second half of the year, so Thursday's demand, said the PMA's Getzug, was probably similar to that of Thursday the week before, when 6,000 longshore workers were dispatched to handle cargo for 30 vessels at the major West Coast ports for the day.
Fifteen cargo ships arrived at the adjacent Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles on Thursday and were unattended by the ILWU during the day, said Arley Baker, a spokesman at the Port of Los Angeles. By late afternoon, there were 12 ships at Los Angeles, he said.
During the busier time of the year, with holiday-related cargo arriving from the Far East, there would be 2o or more ships arriving at those two ports alone, Baker said. "The sky is not falling, and ships are not backed up from here to China," he said.
While three to five ships typically are docked at the Port of Oakland on any given day, only one was due to arrive Thursday during the work stoppage, said port spokeswoman Marilyn Sandifur.
"There was awareness by terminal operators of a possible labor action," and shipping companies acted accordingly to minimize disruption, Sandifur said.
"If I'm a logistics expert with a major retailer, I'm going to work around it," Baker said of the labor dispute.
Indeed, Merrilees said, "We hear ships reduced speed out in the Pacific, to adjust to the schedule on May 1, and we are pleased by the added benefit of reduced air pollution."
Nevertheless, the work stoppage recalled the disastrous effects of the 10-day lockout of workers by the PMA in 2002, during fruitless contract talks. The dispute damaged both sides and ended when President Bush obtained an order to open the ports under the Taft-Hartley Act. Estimates of daily losses in the economy exceeded $1 billion at the time, as produce rotted on docks, wheat never got out of Montana silos to be exported, and holiday toys were delayed on their trip to market.
Getzug, the Pacific Maritime Association spokesman, said its president, Jim McKenna, was unavailable Thursday as he is focused on contract negotiations.
Annual business activity related to the West Coast ports is about $1.2 trillion, 10 percent of total U.S. gross domestic product, according to John Martin and Associates, a company that does economic impact analysis. The company said shippers pay $50,000 to $100,000 a day to have a ship sitting at a berth for an extra day, and the costs eventually reach consumers.
E-mail George Raine at graine@sfchronicle.com