Support the April 24 Mobilization to
Free Mumia

ILWU Local 10 Executive Board Resolution
San Francisco, February 9, 1999

WHEREAS, last October the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied the appeal of death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal who was framed and convicted of killing a Philadelphia policeman; and

WHEREAS, Mumia Abu-Jamal, a radio journalist, was the target of the Philadelphia police since his youthful days in the Black Panther Party; and

WHEREAS, the notorious Judge Sabo, who presided over the trial and was a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, has sentenced more people to death than any other sitting judge in the U.S.; and

WHEREAS, the Philadelphia police department, according to a 1979 federal government investigation, is rife with corruption and police brutality; and

WHEREAS, in 1995 the Philadelphia police scandal was highlighted in newspapers across the country with accounts of innocent people being blatantly framed up, resulting in the release of 300 innocent people from jail, many convicted by juries from which blacks were routinely excluded ; and

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge has pledged to sign Mumia¹s death warrant and is set to begin the execution process of an innocent man; and

WHEREAS, the ILWU through resolutions from its organizational divisions and letters from its International Presidents has defended Mumia Abu-Jamal; and

WHEREAS, Mumia last year lent his name to the victorious Neptune Jade defense campaign of the ILWU; and

WHEREAS, on April 24, 1999 there will be national demonstrations to demand a stop to the execution of and a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal on the East Coast in Philadelphia and on the West Coast in San Francisco; and

WHEREAS, the organized labor movement has the power through action to ensure justice for this principled and courageous freedom fighter;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the ILWU go on record supporting these demonstrations and mobilize our membership on the coast to participate; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that we apppeal to our fellow longshore workers in Philadelphia to join in this national demonstration in an effort toward freeing Mumia.

submitted by
Jack Heyman # 8780

Many unions and union leaders have joined the growing list of supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal's case, including the California Nurses Association (CNA), the United Farmworkers (UFW), and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), as well as Local 2 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, AFSCME Local 829, and the South San Francisco Teachers Association (CTA), among others.

From the 1998 First Constitutional Covention of the Labor Party (US):

Be it resolved that the Labor Party 1998 Convention goes on record demanding justice for Mumia Abu Jamal, a world-renowned award winning journalist, courageous defender of the rights of the working class and oppressed people, who is a prisoner on death row in Pennsylvania.

Be it further resolved, that we demand a new trial, due to the mockery of his 1982 trial; that was characterized by reliance on contradictory evidence from the police, coercion, intimidation, bribery by the police of prosecution witnesses; police suppression of evidence, the illegal exclusion of African-American jurors and the blatant bias of Judge Albert Sabo;

Be it further resolved, that the Labor Party joins the hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life around the world, who have demanded justice for Mumia Abu Jamal;

Be it finally resolved, to promptly communicate this resolution to Governor Tom Ridge: Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, 225 Main Capital Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120. Fax) 717-783-4429. Tel) 717-787-2500.