Boycott

Photo Rogan Ward - Satawu port workers

Durban dockworkers block arms to Zimbabwe

Joseph Dube was on leave at home in Durban with his wife when he got a call from the president of the International Transport Workers' Federation and general secretary of the South African Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu), Randall Howard.

"He told me they had intelligence that an arms shipment for Zimbabwe was coming into port, so I cancelled my leave," said the KwaZulu Natal provincial union secretary.

According to the ITF the ship's manifest that listed the arms was leaked to the local press from the port office. The ITF president had heard the news on the car radio and did a quick investigation to confirm weapons were on board the COSCO vessel An Yue Jiang before announcing the union would act.

"There was a groundswell of opposition to what was happening in Zimbabwe," said Randall Howard. "Given the violence there, given the political instability there, given the position of workers there, we did not want to put more weapons into the hands of a repressive government."

"I called a meeting of the 20 stop stewards and they got word out to the workers," said Joseph. "Our members are very well informed. We opposed what was happening in Zimbabwe. Trade unions have no rights. There is no freedom. Union leaders are victimised, kidnapped, assaulted and arrested. We've been supporting the refugees coming into our country from Zimbabwe, fleeing the repression there. We told management our members would not be handling the vessel."

"Our members employed at Durban Container Terminal will not unload this cargo. Neither will any of our members in the truck driving sector move this cargo," a Satawu April 17 press statement said.

"This vessel must return to China with the arms on board as South Africa cannot be seen to be facilitating the flow of weapons into Zimbabwe at a time where there is a political dispute and a volatile situation."

Satawu called for rule by ballot box, not by gunpoint.

The stand by the South African waterside workers in Durban made world headlines. With the full backing of the 134,000-strong Satawu and the ITF, the South African wharfies were to turn away a covert Chinese arms shipment. And before long the union boycott by a handful of dockers in one port was to become an international arms embargo.

It was April 17, only weeks after the people of Zimbabwe had voted against one-time national liberation leader turned despot President Robert Mugabe. Reports of government-supported militias using rape, torture and sheer brutality to suppress free speech and intimidate activists had began reaching the outside world as Mugabe clung to power.

When the COSCO vessel An Yue Jiang came into the harbour, the union called for the South African police to investigate. They uncovered three million rounds of AK47 ammunition, 3000 mortar shells and 1500 rocket-propelled grenades.

The dockworkers declared the cargo black.

ITF Inspector in Durban, Sprite Zungu, went onboard the An Yue Jiang to investigate and make links with the Chinese crew, members of the Chinese Seafarers' Union (CSU).

"This is a significant act of solidarity with Zimbabwe's working people. The ITF fully, strongly and categorically supports Satawu's actions," said ITF General Secretary David Cockroft.

In Australia, Paddy Crumlin, Maritime Union National Secretary and chair of the ITF dockers' section personally congratulated Randall Howard for the courageous decision and called for a world boycott.

"I want to assure you that this action has been widely recognised and praised by MUA members around the country," he wrote. "We pass on our solidarity with the actions of the dockworkers in Durban and the excellent leadership which Satawu has shown. Your actions once again demonstrate that determined action by trade unions, with the support of comrade unions across the globe, can have powerful impacts, even on foreign policy."

The national secretary recalled the important role Australian maritime workers had played during the years of apartheid in South Africa, placing black bans and sanctions on South African cargoes and helping organise an international embargo on oil to bring down the Pretoria regime.

Despite sensational news from Zimbabwe breaking across the globe, the South African government initially rejected calls from civil society, church and advocacy groups to ensure that the weapons were not offloaded.

But Satawu maintained the cargo was not going anywhere. And on April 18 the An Yue Jiang left South African waters after that country's High Court ruled the weapons could not be transported over South African roads to landlocked Zimbabwe.

"As South Africans, by standing up and refusing to off-load these arms, we are proud that we have not contributed to increasing the violence in Zimbabwe," Sandile Gasa, Satawu shop steward told Bonga Ngwane for Workers' World Media Productions.

Now the ITF took the stage, tracking the ship and mobilising pan-African boycotts.

The An Yue Jiang was forced to bypass Maputu where Mozambique unions were also mobilising against the weapons transfer. Then Angola where ITF and International Trade Union Confederation member Federacao dos Sindicatos dos Trabalhadores dos Transportes e Comunicacoes de Angola (FSTTCA) declared on April 30 that its members would refuse to unload any arms bound for Zimbabwe.

Claims by the Zimbabwean government that the cargo bypassed the bans, were strongly disputed by the ITF.

The ITF and ITUC reported that Angolan affiliates had confirmed the An Yue Jiang left Luanda after unloading a cargo of cement and construction material only. No attempt was made to offload any armaments, and the ship sailed after taking on fuel and food. Trade unionists maintained a watch on the ship and what came off and went on it throughout its stay in port. The police were also present.

The ITF pursued the vessel around the African coast alerting the international media of its every move.

"Dockworkers refuse to unload China arms shipment for Zimbabwe", ran the London Times.

"Ship bound for Zimbabwe may return home, says Chinese official", ran CNN.

"For over two weeks, working men and women have kept these bullets and bombs out of the hands of Mugabe's killers," said ITF General Secretary David Cockfroft. "That work continues. The ship and its cargo of destruction remain under close watch. Any attempt to further arm the government of Zimbabwe will be resisted."

Levy Mwanawasa, the president of Zambia and the head of a bloc of 14 southern African nations, called on leaders in the region not to allow the cargo to be delivered.

The ITF also called on COSCO, the Chinese government, the officially-approved All China Federation of Trade Unions, and the Chinese Seamen's and Construction Workers' Union to think of the safety of the ship's crew and return to its home port.

Meanwhile in Zimbabwe, human rights group Care reported soldiers and militias loyal to President Mugabe had killed 86 supporters of the opposition party; injured and maimed 10,000 people; destroyed 20,000 homes; and driven 200,000 people from their homes. Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum documented 586 incidents of torture, 855 incidents of assault, and 19 incidents of politically motivated abductions and kidnappings in 2007 alone. And in May the International Trade Union Confederation loudly protested the arrests of union leaders Lovemore Motombo and Wellington Chibebe.

International Reaction

The arms deal generated international outcry.

Zambia, which chairs the Southern African Development Community (SADC), urged regional states to prohibit the ship from entering their waters.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for a worldwide arms embargo on Zimbabwe. And on April 29, European Union foreign ministers unilaterally slapped sanctions on the Mugabe regime while urging others to follow.

In South Africa Nobel Peace Prize-winner Desmond Tutu called for a global arms trade treaty. He wrote that "at the moment the UN is working on an arms trade treaty that could stop weapons transfers such as this one to Zimbabwe. If a strong treaty eventually becomes law, then an arms exporter will have to block the sale if there is evidence the weapons are likely to be used to commit serious violations of human rights law."

In June the US Congress commended the union bans. It resolved to recognise and commend "the efforts of southern African trade unions, religious leaders, and advocacy groups..."

In Australia the Maritime Union worked with the ACTU to ensure Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Stephen Smith acknowledged the important role of South African dockworkers and supported the embargo.

"I was pleased to see reports that the arms shipment destined for Zimbabwe is now being repatriated following the collective efforts of neighbouring governments, civil society and trade unions, notably including the South African dock workers who refused to unload the consignment in Durban," the foreign minister said.

Nelson Mandela - in London celebrating his 90th birthday - joined the international outcry denouncing "the tragic lack of leadership in Zimbabwe".

The workers' boycott had inspired a global response. By August President Mugabe was forced to enter negotiations with the Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Morgan Tsvangirai on a coalition government.

"We are proud to contribute to the liberation and democracy in Zimbabwe," said Joseph. "I think Satawu played an important role in international solidarity. It will go down in history that members of Satawu contributed to the freedom of the people of Zimbabwe. We hope that one day the people will be liberated from old man Mugabe."

"It makes us proud to be part of an organisation that thinks beyond our own issues, it makes us proud to be a part of Satawu," said Sandile Gasa. "We managed to prevent a sort of arms deal. What happens in Zimbabwe affects us. We need to support each other."

"The stand started by Durban dock workers was a decisive moment," said Randall Howard. "This is really what tactical trade union solidarity should be about. To take a stand against oppression anywhere in the world, to take a stand for human rights. That's why it's important for the global trade union movement to stand together."

GHOSTLY GALLEON

A ghostly galleon plies the seas

that give and take, build and break

on Africa's ex-colonies

on Mozambique, Namibia,

(sometimes mild and sometimes wild),

Angola and South Africa

Bang, bang, bang, the An Yue Jiang

is looking for a port,

but workers on the Durban docks

said, "Nothing of that sort!"

"Take your AKs somewhere else,

your mortars and grenades;

they'll use those bullets on working folk,

boys with dreadlocks and girls with braids,

waiters, vendors, gardeners, maids,

labourers with picks and spades,

farmers dragging the oxen's yoke"

There is a ghostly galleon

that plies the southern seas,

it carries death for working folk,

cannons and RPGs

It tried to dock in Durban

to drop its deadly load

but the Durban Dockers' Union

upheld the workers' code

Well it's a bang, bang, bang, the An Yue Jiang

is sailing round the Cape

with toys for the boys that make a loud noise,

that kill and maim and rape

Salute the Durban dockers

Salute those workers bold

they save a thousand comrades

from misery untold.

they saved a thousand comrades

but only for a day

the ghostly galleon will be back

terror is here to stay.

John Eppel - SATAWU's worker poet

April 2008