Teamsters Reject Maersk Offer to Investigate Murder in El Salvador

Teamsters Reject Maersk Offer to Investigate Murder in El Salvador

Union Cites Company History of Slandering Labor Leaders

November 22, 2004

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Chuck Mack, Director of Teamsters Port Division, unconditionally dismissed an offer by A.P. Moller to run an independent investigation into the November murder of Teamster Union Representative Gilberto Soto.

“Four years ago Maersk officials slandered port truck drivers in El Salvador who were seeking union contracts with their Central American trucking operation, calling them ‘terrorists and thugs.’ Three years ago they floated a rumor that the leader of a port truck driver union campaign at Maersk’s Oakland, California trucking subsidiary, Pacific Rim Transport, Inc., was a terrorist agent of the Taliban,” Mack said.

Soto, 49, died almost instantly when he was shot in the back while visiting Usulutan, El Salvador on union business. To date, the police have done little to apprehend what appears to be a death squad that killed the union representative.

Soto, a prominent figure involved in organizing port drivers in the U.S., was in Central America developing ties with unions and activists who have been trying to organize port drivers working for A.P. Moller’s trucking subsidiary, Bridge International Transport.

“This murder investigation is best left to the Salvadoran authorities, who have indicated their willingness to accept assistance from U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies. If the Salvadoran police engage in a cover-up, we will seek the assistance of human rights organizations with a track record of integrity and independence,” Mack added.

Last week, the Teamsters announced a $75,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Soto’s assassins. The reward money is being offered by the Teamsters in conjunction with the two U.S. dockworkers unions—the International Longshoremen’s Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.