APPEAL FROM RUSSIAN WORKERS:

DOCKWORKER LEADER STABBED AND BEATEN:

Last Thursday, June 7th, Mikhail Chesalin, the chairman of the local Dockers Union of Russia in Kaliningrad was attacked outside the union office. This was done in broad daylight, at 10:30 am. Chesalin was stabbed several times in the spine and beaten about the head. His assailants left him unconscious in a pool of blood.

Union members in Kaliningrad believe that the hand behind the attack was Vladimir Kalinichenko, General Director of the Sea Commercial Port. The union has been organizing in the port for 12 years, and Kalinichenko has made it his personal goal to destroy the union ever since a strike in 1997. Since april the union has been conducting a renewed organizing drive to change a miserable and arbitrary wage system, for an end to abuse by management and for a voice on the job. Kalinichenko has responded by sending his goons to both spy and try to intimidate the workers. This is the first time,however, that they have resorted to this level of violence.

Chesalin ran for parliament in 2006 against Kalinichenko and despite having only 1/13th of the money he polled 4 times as many votes. The struggle of the Kaliningrad dock workers has attracted the attention of the ILO abnd the European Court of Human Rights. The Labour Start online solidarity site is forwarding the appeal of Chesalin's union brothers to protest this attack and to demand that such attacks cease and workers' rights be respected. Go to http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=265 to read more and to help out in this campaign.