A few more Chevron protest pics

First, since all these gorgeous photos and the equipment that produced them cost money, I assume everyone involved and viewing these photos has contributed to this website as it too costs money. If not, please do so now. I have contributed and cannot understand why anyone alllows a piddly $5,000 to continue to be a visual nuisance on this website. $5,000 is 50 people contributing $100 each, 100 people contributing $50 each and so forth. There are 7 million people in the Bay Area. We can be sure thousands view this website daily. We can be sure those thousands spend $10 a day on snacks, coffee and the like. $10 a day is $3,650 a year. We also know people will use their credit card to jump on a polluting plane to just about anywhere, get in their global warming machine auto and drive to just about anywhere, despite the cost of gas and maintenance of a car. If you can use the credit card for that, you can use it for this and get far more for it. You can also send a check to:
SF Bay Area IMC
2940 16th St, Ste 216
San Francisco, CA 94103

If you need a tax deduction, you can donate as follows:
If you would like your donation to be tax deductible, you will need to donate to us through our § 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, Media Alliance (EIN 94-2563400). Make your check payable to "Media Alliance", write "donation to SF Bay Area IMC" as the memo, and mail it to the address above.
There are other ways you can contribute in money and in goods at:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2003/12/15/16659041.php/

We obviously need this website as there is no serious peace and social justice website in this area besides this one that is open to the public.

Second, what efforts were made to involve the labor unions who represent the workers at Chevron in this protest? The pollution and horrific fires at these refineries have also taken a toll on the workers' lives. They are just as adversely impacted by these ancient refineries (Richmond's was originally built in 1902) as are the rest of us. In order for there to be any victories for any environmental or peace cause, labor must be part of the coalition.

Hey, Amy Goodman just mentioned this event on Democracy Now.

There were a variety of people with union jackets, and at the rally at the beginning, Jack Heyman of the ILWU spoke about some labor issues. He was saying that he used to work at Chevron a long time ago. I am having a hard time figuring out which union would represent Chevron workers. There might be several, and also, I bet there are quite a few worker categories without union representation. Here they refer vaguely to the existence of unions http://www.tombutt.com/media/990327A.htm

Yes, it's always super important to show solidarity with staff and targeting managers, owners, and stockholders primarily. In some respects, this can include police staff as well. Remember that officers are often only symbolic defenders of power who don't really rank with financers, government leaders, or the directors of the military.

Thanks for mentioning the importance of contributing founds.

Chevron employees...inside the fence? I've been hearing that the plant was not running on the 15th, but the presence of drones within the refinery's fence raises the question...was the plant shut down?

The shutting down of the entrance to the refinery clearly had a lot more to do with the police line established before the march even reached the gates. If the police already shut down the entrance (and a freeway on-ramp as well), why bother sitting down in the middle of the road? Rushing the police barricade when least expected was the only thing resembling direct action, and showed that people still had a tiny ember of life and activity within them, and were not just sheep grazing upon asphalt. With the exception of that incident, ten cops on motorcycles probably could have controlled the entire mass of pacifists--I wish it weren't so, but it's probably true more often than not.

As one captioner pointed out in another thread, the 15th would have been a great time to press the attack elsewhere in Richmond, while the police force was lolling about at the refinery. Decentralization and autonomy are the way to go.

In addition to unions, were there any Richmond residents beyond the indominatable Henry Clark? Otherwise these pictures make it look like just a bunch of carpetbaggers from SF that came by for a well organized photo shoot, and then took BART back home. How about showing up for the next stop the violence event, to focus on the very real militarism occurring in town? And by the way, if you do go, how about not trying to hijack the event into yet another tirade against violence in the middle east, when there's plenty here at home to go around. Not that there's anything wrong with carpetbagging...

In responding to an earlier post , i think the main union *at Chevron is P.A.C.E. P.A.C.E. resulted from a fusion of the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic workers Union (OCAW ) and the Paperworkers Union.
From the 80's until the early 2000's OCAW took progressive stands on a variety of issues, including opposing the Central American wars and kick starting the formation of the Labor Party (which basically didn't make it past early childhood but that's another sad tale of the US labor movement )
After it's fusion a few years ago the leadership became more conservative . But i still hope that the organizers reached out to the Union, regardless of whether the International or local leaders were receptive .
Hopefully next time there can be pre-demo leafleting to the workforce , if for no other reason than to attempt to counter the corporate propaganda that surely portrayed us as their enemy of ordinary Chevron workers .

* I think that the Boilermakers Union, of the Building Trades , also has members working there.

re: was it effective - according to the Chronicle the plant was still running, at least partially - the trucks just used another entrance. I'd say the whole thing was purely symbolic.

Chevron has a really huge perimeter. They even demanded that the adjacent tide flats be kept semi-privatized as a buffer zone for them for security purposes, rather than being allowed to become a park with trails. http://www.baycrossings.com/Archives/2003/09_October/point_molate_waterfront_dream_or_terrorist_nightmare.htm

DASW does a very good job inviting everyone and getting a good mix of speakers and leaders. They really are one of the best in the region.
While the points above about what would be effective at change vs. what we could do are true. However, you have to look at who had the courage to get arrested here. Most of those folks were Veterans Against the War, some people who looked like Code Pink, and some other seniors including a catholic priest. I believe most were self described pacifists, and if they repeatedly take this bearing witness stuff upon themselves, it's not wise to get escalated charges thrown against them, where basically they would suffer a burden while the news coverage or result would be no greater.