By various authors – Industrial Worker, July 1990
General Secretary Treasurer Jeff Ditz
As the IWW General Secretary Treasurer, I express my deepest anger and regret over police and FBI actions against IWW members Judi Bari and Daryl Cherney. Bari and Cherney are two of the IWW’s best organizers; their presence at our last September’s IWW convention inspired all of us and deepened my own commitment to organizing. Their work at organizing workers on the shop floor and in their communities and building a coalition between workers and environmentalists is revolutionary unionism at its best.
The IWW holds true to the established Wobbly principle that an injury to one is an injury to all! I am enraged at the injuries sustained by Bari and Cherney as a result of a bomb placed in their car and am deeply suspicious of federal government and lumber industry involvement in this attempt on their lives. Both are deeply nonviolent people, and I ask all Wobblies to come to the support of Bari and Cherney and to either attend the Redwood Summer actions, contribute to the Judi Bari defense fund, or sponsor local support actions across the country.
San Francisco Bay Area General Membership Branch
The IWW is appalled by the attempted murder yesterday of two of its members, Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney, and the FBI’s subsequent effort to implicate them in the car bombing which left both of them hospitalized.
We believe that Judi and Darryl were targeted for this attack because of their effectiveness in organizing against the clearcutting of old-growth redwood in the Northwest. They had begun to organize timber workers into the IWW as part of their campaign to halt clearcutting, because it was becoming clear to everyone that when the trees were all gone, there would be no more jobs either. It was this ability to link the labor and environmental issues which made Judi and Darryl so dangerous to the timber barons, whose profiteering depends on the continuing antagonism between these two movements.
We demand a fair and thorough investigation by the police of this deplorable attack, but we realize that only intense, constant pressure from the public can assure us of one. We must not allow this tragedy to be turned against the very community of activists who are it victims.
Southeast Michigan IWW
We are outraged that Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney are being treated as criminals. They are not criminals, but victims of a powerful industry—the lumber industry. These companies will stop at nothing (not even murder) to retain their rights to rape the earth. Judi and Darryl are on the forefront of the so called “Timber Wars”, and, because of this commitment to stopping the destruction of our forests, have been framed by those who wish them silent. This is not the first attempt on their lives, but we hope it is the last. We hereby call for a full investigation into this bombing, that the individuals responsible for it be held accountable for their actions, and for a stop to the violence directed at Judi and Darryl and other environmentalists working for the preservation for the earth. We pledge our continued support to Judi and Darryl and, as always, we are in solidarity.