------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the March 22, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- ERNESTO JOFRE 1937-2001 BROUGHT CLASS STRUGGLE FROM CHILE TO U.S. By Milt Neidenberg New York A unique and unusual labor leader has died--Ernesto Jofre, the manager, secretary-treasurer, and inspiration behind Local 169 of UNITE, the garment and textile workers' union. His local stood head and shoulders above the official labor movement in this city and state. Jofre headed the 5,000- member Amalgamated Northeast Joint Board of the union, and was recently appointed an international vice-president. Jofre's commitment to the labor movement and to low-paid and immigrant workers was formed in his early years. A Chilean socialist and member of the Copper Workers Union, he supported Salvador Allende, who was elected president of Chile in 1970 on a socialist ticket. When Allende was assassinated in 1973 on the orders of the fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet, with the aid and support of the U.S. CIA, Jofre was arrested, jailed and tortured for three years. His dream of a prosperous and democratic Chile stayed with him to the end of his life as he worked diligently to support Ricardo Lagos, a socialist who won the presidency last year. He believed Lagos would help fulfill his dream. But Bush and the International Monetary Fund have other plans--to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement into a new Free Trade Area of the Americas in order to exploit Chile and the entire hemisphere. Jofre was exiled to the U.S. in 1976 and soon joined Local 169. Over the next quarter of a century he rose from organizer to the leadership of the union. What made him extraordinary was how quickly he applied what he had learned as a political/labor leader in Chile to the social and economic conditions in the U.S. He opposed the policies of AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland, who worked closely with the CIA to crush the progressive, revolutionary and socialist movements in El Salvador. Jofre was the principal organizer of the New York Committee on Human Rights and Democracy, which exposed brutal attacks on the peasants and workers and their unions. Jofre organized so successfully that Kirkland was forced to send his key labor lieutenant from the infamous American Institute for Free Labor Development to New York to combat Jofre's efforts to build a solidarity movement. The CIA subsidized this AFL-CIO department to undermine progressive movements in Latin America. For many of us who met Jofre and supported him during those trying days, it was the beginning of a long and comradely relationship. He organized his members and networked with other unions to bring union delegations to the May 3, 1981, historic March on the Pentagon. Workers World and other organizers brought 100,000 protesters to Washington. One of the major issues was the U.S. intervention in the civil war in El Salvador on the side of a fascist dictatorship and counter-revolution. In later years, Jofre supported many issues initiated by the International Action Center. He provided his union hall for an organizing meeting for this year's Jan. 20 Bush counter- inauguration demonstration; for a Mumia planning meeting; and meetings that organized successful delegations to bring medicine and food to the Iraqi people, defying State Department mandates. He contributed generously to the Key Martin/Chris Hani Memorial Fund of Peoples Video Network to fight the AIDS crisis and address other critical issues in South Africa. Local 169 was a mixed bag when it came to electoral politics- -a contradiction that remains to this day. To his credit, Jofre supported and set up office space for candidates who ran openly as lesbians and gays. On the other hand, he was a founding member of the Working Families Party, which created another line on the voting machine for Democratic candidates. The top Democratic leaders that Jofre endorsed--like Al Gore, Sen. Charles Schumer and Sen. Hillary Clinton--are in the same party that, under former President Bill Clinton, was responsible for the Welfare Reform Act that scapegoats and victimizes the most oppressed section of the poor and the low-paid workers--the very people Jofre championed. The labor movement has been attacked by both capitalist parties, the Democrats as well as the Republicans. Ernesto Jofre's legacy, however, lies in his dedication and tireless devotion to the cause and the plight of low-paid, immigrant workers. His optimism, dedication and compassion in organizing these workers encouraged the IAC and other progressive and community representatives to provide organizers and other volunteers to join with Local 169 in organizing oppressed food store workers. These workers put in long hours with no benefits, earning less than the minimum wage. They have been terrorized and threatened with deportation by the powerful Korean Green Grocers Association, the employers that Local 169 took on. Jofre's vision of the future for the labor movement was with the most oppressed and low-paid workers: immigrants, people of color, women, service workers. His life and contributions and the lessons he brought from Chile demonstrate that the U.S. labor movement is entering a new period. Leaders are rising up from the multinational and oppressed work force to be the engine of renewed class struggle. Ernesto Jofre believed in this vision. He matched his words with his deeds. A standing room crowd of supporters filled a large union hall here on March 11 to pay homage to his deep impact on the labor movement. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
