December 9, 1997 n Industrial Workers of the World Fred Chase, General Secretary Dear Fred,
I am writing to let you and other fellow workers know of a redbaiting campaign being waged against the IWW here in South Carolina. Harbinger Publications has been a member of IWW IU 450 for the past 18 years. Harbinger is a project of the Natural Guard, a not for profit organization working for environmental and social justice in South Carolina. The Natural Guard has been organizing a statewide Progressive Network for the past two years. The state president of the AFL-CIO, Donna DeWitt is the co-chair of the Network and has worked tirelessly to get unions around the state involved in the Network. Papers have been filed by members of IBEW Local 1753 in Charleston seeking the impeachment of DeWitt. The reasons stated for impeachment are that the Natural Guard is operated by IWW members, the IWW is a socialist organization, and the IBEW bylaws preclude participating in endeavors with socialists. To prove their point, the papers filed by the reactionary IBEW protestors include a printout of our internet home page (http://www.mindspring.com/~scpoint/point/) showing a link to the IWW homepage. The preamble of the IWW is included to make their case we are socialists. We are proud to be socialists and were puzzled as to why union members would choose to work with capitalists. It appears that what is behind the redbaiting and the attempt to remove DeWitt, is old fashioned chauvinism. The white guys who are complaining, campaigned against DeWitt in her last two successful elections, and see this as a way to get rid of an aggressive woman organizer who is too progressive for their tasts. The reactionaries also consider themselves Republicans. If you, or any of our fellow workers, have any experience dealing with such mean spirited and counterproductive tactics - especially coming from another union - please contact me with letters of support for DeWitt, or letters of criticism for the IBEW renegades. Contact me at: (numbers and address above) Address your letters to either myself, Donna DeWitt President SCAFL-CIO, or to Tommy Crenshaw, President of IBEW Local 1753 (Crenshaw supports DeWitt) Yours for One Big Union
Brett Bursey x332741
the letter was printed on recycled paper by Harbinger Publications with an IWW Union Bug.
South Carolina Progressive Network P.O. Box 8325 Columbia, SC 29202 803-808-3384 fax 803-808-3781 email scpoint@mindspring.com
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