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8000 EAST JEFFERSON AVE. D ETROIT, MI CHIG AN 4621 4 PHONE (3 13) 926-5 000

INTERNATIONAL UNION, UNITED AUTOMOBILE, AEROSPACE & A.GRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT WORKERS OF AM.ERICA-UAW

OWEN F . B I EBER, PRESI D ENT RAYMO N D MAJERUS, Secretary-Treasurer V I C E-P RESIDEN TS BILLY J . CASSTEVENS - DONALD F. EPHLIN - ODESSA KOMER - MARC STEPP - STEPHEN P. YOK IC H

Telephone (312) 699-2020 W. G . STEWART , Director 4~5 44 REGION 4, U A W 2700 S. R I VER ROAD, Suite 200 D ES PLA I NES, 60018 March 18 , 1988 AN OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR ALAN J. DIXON, SENATOR , U.S. REPRESENTATIVES AND SIDNEY R. YATES FROM THE ILLINOIS LABOR NETWORK AGAINST APARTHEID

On February 24, 1988 , the South African government banned 17 anti­ apartheid organizations and prohibited the nation's largest labor federation­ the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)-from all political activity. Bishop Desmond Tutu and other church leaders were arrested while attempting to peaceably protest the orders. COSATU is prohibited from calling for the release of detainees, from opposing forced removals or from supporting disinvestment or sanctions. It is banned from defending members who are jailed including Moses Mayekiso of the National Union of Metalworkers. COSATU cannot hold any public meetings concerning these and other issues. It is essentially prohibited from engaging . in any peaceful protest. Without international pres sure , any hope for a peaceful transition to majority rule and an end to apartheid has been eliminated. The Reagan Administration's policies toward South Africa only help to bolster the apartheid regime and its violent and repressive actions against the majority of its people. Today we march under the banner of the "Illinois Labor Network Against Apartheid" representing unions of auto , steel and mine workers ; service and retail employees; transit workers, teachers and teamsters; federal, state, county and city employees; garment and textile workers; food and commercial workers; machinists and electrical workers; sheet metal and communication workers; and many more. We march with the Committee in Solidarity with Southern Africa, with the full support of the Chicago City Council. We urge YOU to support comprehensive sanctions by co-sponsoring and taking the lead fo r passage of S . 556/H.R . 1580 which call fo r comprehensive sanctions against South Africa, in th.is session of Congress . Page 2

This letter is presented in person on behalf of the Illinois Labor Network Against Apartheid on March 18, 1988 by:

Charles Barton, Secretary-Treasurer , Local SOOP, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Josephine Lewis Brooks, Staff Representative, District 31, United Steelworkers of America

Basil Clunie, Co-Chair, Chicago Committee in Solidarity with Southern Africa

Forrest Gibson, Executive Vice-President, Local 1550, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Robert Nelson, National Vice-President, American Federation of Government Employees

Alfonso Richardson, Vice-President of the Executive Board, Local 881, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Carole Travis, President, Local 719, United Auto Workers

Mitch Vogel, President, Local 4100, University Professionals of Illinois, American Federation of Teachers

Jarvis Williams, President, Local 46 , Service Employees International Union

Richard Ziebell, President, Local 477, United Auto Workers

We ask for your immediate attention to this urgent request.

Sincerely,

hnnie Jackson President ack Parton, Director Chicago Chapter, Coalition of District 31, United Labor Union Women Steelworkers of America

~ l )r ~._Jj v-+-~~1A.mj W. G. Stewart, Director Region 4, United Auto Workers