Was a U.S. company involved in the murder of a union organizer? No one yet knows the full details that lead to the murder of Jose Gilberto Soto–but it sure smells like a contract murder. Soto was visiting his mother’s home in El Salvador when he received a call on his cell phone. He stepped outside to take the call, when two men approached him and shot him at close range. He died immediately. The killers took off. He was not robbed so it’s fairly clear the perpetrators had targeted Soto for other reasons.

Soto worked with a good fried of mine, Ron Carver. They were working on trying to organize drivers who drive in one of the toughest neighborhoods around: the ports. The IBT has been attempting to document the systematic violations of worker rights by Maersk, one of the largest shipping companies in the world. Soto was in El Salvador to meet with port workers who haul Maersk goods. Carver told me that Soto was a special person, a gifted organizer and a person who was both a man of the street and a political activist.

Soto left behind a wife and three children. (Donations may be made to: Gilberto Soto Memorial Fund
Wachovia Bank, 358 Market Street, Saddle Brook, NJ 07662 Account #: 1010110478249). The family, understandably, is pretty devastated. It would help to write a letter of condolence to the family, citing Soto’s courage and work to organize the port workers. You can send the letter to: Family of Gilberto Soto, c/o President James Hoffa, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 25 Louisiana Ave, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001

One organization, the National Labor Committee, is asking people to write to Secretary of State Colin Powell demanding an investigation into the murder. Below is a draft letter:

Colin L. Powell, Secretary of State

Department of State

2201 C St., NW

Washington, DC 20520
Fax: 202-647-2283

Dear Secretary Powell:

A United States citizen and trade union leader, Mr. Gilberto Soto, was assassinated in Usulutan, El Salvador on Friday evening, November 5. Two men who shot Mr. Soto in the back, at close range, before fleeing to a waiting car.There was absolutely no attempt to rob Mr. Soto, and according to eye witness accounts, it was clear that the sole intent was to kill him.

Mr. Soto, who was born in El Salvador, was a longtime union organizer with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, in charge of working with port drivers on the northeast coast of the United States. Mr. Soto was in Central America to meet with port workers and the drivers who haul
containers for the Maersk shipping line and other companies in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.

I strongly believe that Mr. Soto was assassinated to prevent his meeting with and providing solidarity to these exploited port drivers.

The container drivers in El Salvador work under very abusive conditions, forced to work excessively long shifts for little pay.The Salvadoran drivers are also systematically denied their legal right to freedom of association. Everyone knows that any attempt to organize would be met with mass firings.

I urge you to intervene with the President of El Salvador to demand an
immediate and thorough investigation of why Mr. Gilberto Soto was killed,
and by whom.

I also request that sufficient U.S. resources and personnel
be made available to monitor this investigation. Certainly out of respect
for Mr. Soto, there should also be an investigation into the systematic
violation of labor rights faced by El Salvador’s port workers–especially
in light of the pending Central America Free Trade Agreement. If a U.S.
citizen and union leader can be assassinated in El Salvador, one can only
imagine the repression and threats the Salvadoran workers must face on a
daily basis.

Thank you for your efforts to see that genuine justice is done for Mr.
Soto and his family, and for all decent Americans who value respect for
fundamental human and workers’ rights.

Sincerely,

[your name]

CC: Elías Antonio Saca González, President of the Republic of El Salvador
at: http://www.casapres.gob.sv/prescartas.htm

As more details on this issue become available, I will post them here.